Persistence in Passion

I just received a large order of used books, and immediately went through, flipping the pages of each book , just “making sure” it was what I had ordered.  At any rate, I noticed a strange phenomenon that, come to think of it, often rings true when dealing with used books.  As I flip through the pages, the markings of a previous owner jump out at me – highlighter, underlining, little notes jotted in the margins – but these markings only occur throughout the first 10-20 pages of the book.   Sometimes I will get excited, “Oh boy, someone has already marked all of the important points for me!”  Only to find that, yes, the important points of chapter one, MAYBE chapter two and/or three, are marked out, but from there I am on my own.   

I might be jumping to conclusions here, but what this says to me is that for some reason someone who had been claiming the ownership of this book previous to myself did not finish reading the book.   Is it the book’s fault?  Is it not a good book, not worth reading? 

Or, according to my stronger suspicions, is it the reader? 

The fact that this is such a common occurrence has me slightly concerned – is anyone willing to stick through an entire book these days?  Even if its not a science-fictional romantic thriller?  Somehow this parallels the level of integrity that runs rampant in society today.  We love the bits and pieces that fuel little whims and spurts of passion, but when it comes to commitment, it is a rare few who can finish what they started with the same passion that  was present at the beginning, having conquered all that may have thrown others off track with a determination to see something through to the end.  And they come out all the much stronger for it…