A Lot of Books

“-You've got a . . . Lot of books, he said at last.
-it's a sickness.
-Are you . . . Seeing anyone for it?
-I'm afraid it's untreatable.
-is this the . . . Dewey decimal system?
-No. But it's based on similar principles. Those are the British novelists. The French are in the kitchen. Homer, Virgil, and the other epics are by the tub.
-I take it the . . . Transcendental its do better in the sunlight.
-Exactly.
-Do they need much water?
-Not as much as you think. But lots of pruning.
He pointed the volume toward a pile of books under my bed.
-And the . . . Mushrooms?
-The Russians.
-Ah.
-Who's winning?
-Not me.”
― Amor Towles, Rules of Civility