Enthusiasm...in general

Codex Mystery Decoded

• My brother wrote me this e-mail the other day:
• Upon reading your blog, my interest in the Codex Seraphinianus was renewed. I checked my school's library website to find that my school has a copy of the book. Considering I had some free time, I found myself at the art library earlier today. I looked around to find the book (for I knew its shelving number), but it wasn't where it was supposed to be. I asked an odd looking man at the front desk if he could help me find it. He stared back at me, and said, "I am familiar with that book. Let me take you this way." He led me into a locked room, where there was a kind, old lady. She asked what I was there for, he informed her that it was for the Codex Seraphinianus, and she told me that I had good taste. I was then led to go to the bathroom and wash my hands, in order for me to handle the book. I come back, and the book is lying on the table in front of me. It was quite long, and I spent a better part of an hour looking over its contents. I informed the librarian that I thought it was beautiful and left.
• Sincerely,
• Jacob
• Contrast this mystery with the e-mail the author of the Codex wrote in response to an interview request from the author of the Believer article.
• Luigi Serafini:
• Buongiorno (good morning) Mr. Taylor!
• thanks for your kind words of appreciation. My english is not as good as yours… it’s rather pidgin (as spoken in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea), but I’m ready to discuss with you about books and/or other topics by using all the idiomatic expressions I learned from Hollywood and pop singers…
• A risentirci! (Goodbye for now!)
• Luigi
• Tone of these passages aside - which is a minefield in and of itself - the mysery surrounding the Codex (a first edition, which my brother's school has, running around $5,000 to $6,000) seems to be largely economic.