Too Many Books?
Monday July 28, 2008
I have a postcard that a friend gave to me of a host of little characters making themselves busy in an enormous library. One stands precariously upon a ladder, two sit with their noses buried in books on the library steps, one simply gazes up at the enormous piles of texts. And above the picture is the caption, ‘There’s no such thing as too many books…’
Normally I would agree; but over the last two weeks, I have been beginning to wonder. Just over a week ago, we moved house from Birmingham to Leeds (or, to be more precise, to Pudsey), and as we were lugging endless boxes of books from house to removal van and then from removal van to house again, it occurred to me that possibly, just possibly, there might be such a thing as too many books. And is it my imagination, or is a box of philosophy books somehow heavier than a box of novels?
We moved the weekend before last, and then last Thursday I took myself off to Paris on the Eurostar to see the truly magnificent Tom Waits performing at the Grand Rex. Now that I am back home, a semblance of order is beginning to emerge in the new house. The bookshelves are now up, most of the books are unpacked, and as the memory of lugging all those heavy boxes begins to fade, once again, I am telling myself that there is indeed no such thing as too many books.
When my ISP gets round to connecting the broadband in the new house (which inexplicably takes up to ten working days), I’ll be set up to work once again, and will be able to blog more regularly. Until then, when I need to get online I’ll be found lurking in Cafe Latino in Leeds, making use of their free wi-fi and partaking of their very tasty banana loaf as I check my emails on my battered old laptop.
Will, as I’m in the same position (moving in a little over a week), I agree! I’ve started to rethink every tempting book purchase I make. Do I need to buy, rather than borrow this one? Will I refer back to it regularly enough to need it on my shelf?
But once they’re up and in place, they look so nice…since perhaps it’s connected to academic vanity (at least for me), maybe I will start taking photographs of the spines of all the books I read, then pasting them onto a cardboard facade on my shelf. Same aesthetic results, but far lighter!
You should try an ebook reader it has been a godsend to me and my girlfriend. When we first moved 2 years ago it cost almost 3000 dollars just for the books to be freighted. Now we are about to move again and have maybe 6 big boxes of books versus the 3 dozen we had before.
Don’t be suckered by the kindle. It is klunky and ugly, at least wait for 2.0. Me and the gf now each have a Sony Reader and I carry about 1000 books with me at all times. The reader automagically bookmarks as I read so I can come back to them at any time.
Link to sony reader.
www.amazon.com/gp/pr…
— Rarian Rakista · Jul 28, 05:52 PM · #
Ah, yes. Academic vanity. Perhaps an e-book reader and the photograph of spines pasted onto cardboard is the optimum solution…
Best wishes,
Will
Will:
Loved the post. :-)
Lots of books is (are?) an excellent argument for not moving. Elly and I have only ever owned one house. We have so many books in it now, we are not going to move. They’ll have to bury us in the backyard…
Fiske
PS: An eReader is no reason not to own paper books too… ;-)
Tom Waits!?! Very nice, indeed! Saw a really fine show in Birmingham, Alabama a few weeks ago!
— Charles Cooley · Jul 30, 01:08 AM · #
Books are another form of attachment and boy am I attached! Nevertheless, I have managed to purge some of clutter and will probably purge more over the years. That said, I am now going through the same checklist concerning need as above.
I guess I am victim of academic vanity too, but there is some value in having original sources nearby if you write?!?!
— phree · Aug 1, 03:17 PM · #
I am on the same page with you, so to speak. I’ve caught myself contemplating some activity and instead of ‘just doing it’, I go and buy some book about it.
I remember the first time I really made a commitment to meditation after reading books on spirituality for many years and thinking, “Ah, so this is what they are talking about.”
BTW, would you like to buy a book?
