Book lover's Dream

Down the rabbit hole - or more accurately, the infinite book tunnel

Our son learned, during his time working on cruise ships, that people are irresistibly drawn to a lineup. Not because they want to wait—but because they want to know what everyone else is waiting for. The fear of missing out will lure even the most line-averse among us into a slow-moving queue of curiosity.

And so it was with us.

As we wound our way through the streets of Prague, we came upon a massive lineup outside the Municipal Library. Now, I love libraries. If there were rooms for rent in one—and I never had to eat—I would happily move in and never leave. But as much as I adore libraries, I eschew lineups, and we walked away after learning that the crowd was waiting to see an installation called Idiom, a social media phenomenon.

Prague, however, is a magical city designed for wandering—and, apparently, for second chances. The following day, we meandered past the library again. and seeing just a few people we joined the small queue.

At first glance, I was underwhelmed. A cylindrical tower of books with a tear-shaped opening? This was what people queued hours for? But then I stepped closer and peered inside.

And just like that, everything shifted.

What appeared from the outside as a simple stack of books transformed into something quietly astonishing—an infinite tunnel of titles cascading beyond sight. Mirrors at the top and bottom create the illusion of endlessness, and suddenly you’re no longer looking at books, but falling gently into them. It felt like the beginning of a fairy tale—one where you slide down an unending chute of stories, wrapped in a cocoon of books.

The installation, Idiom—also known as the Infinite Book Tower or Column of Knowledge—is the work of Slovenian artist Matej Kren. It contains approximately 8,000 books arranged in a cylindrical form, standing 520 cm high and 200 cm in diameter. Originally displayed at the São Paulo International Biennial in 1995, it found a permanent home in the entrance hall of Prague’s Municipal Library in 1998.

Lineups can stretch to two hours, with up to a thousand visitors a day. And I am happy to sheepishly admit, drawn in by curiosity, social media, and the gravitational pull of a lineup, we were among them.