A. I have about 600 eBooks in PDF format. Science Fiction/Fantasy, History, Science, Literature, Language, and Politics.
B. I also have about 100 "physical" books. Down from roughly 400 (I used to work at the Strand Bookstore in NYC, so I would get deep discounts.
Hmmm. I have exactly 0 e-books. And more than 1300 normal books. I think you can guess how I feel about books.
C. So the vast majority of my books are in electronic format. I enjoy reading them on the computer. I have been reading books on the computer since 2002.
D. I am about to get a dedicated eBook reader. Most likely the Nook, once I try it out when I see it available at the bookstore. But this is philosophy . . .
I love my books.
I am sure you love your books too.
But I worry that I am being selfish. I worry that I am giving in to material attachment. To possession. (Sidenote, when I was in Kindergarten, I would be the kid who would give away all the toys and just be happy playing with paper and crayons).I'm not against possession necessarily. But I do like to limit my material attachment. I have read these books. And I feel like I will not read them again. So many other books to read. And I feel like they are mausoleums of ideas. They just sit there, not gathering dust(I clean. A lot.). I feel like they could better serve other people. Ideas need to be available. That's what libraries are for, right? Places where people without the funds(Or with environmental reasons) choose to get books from. I feel like they would better serve the local library whose history section is rather pathetic. Then someone else could discover Classical Athens or Byzantium or learn about The Dutch Republic or about the Meiji Restoration or about T'Ang China.(Yeah I tend to be Eurasian centric in my book choices). I have no North American or Latin American or African(I'm not counting ancient Egyptian, although I do have some Islamic history but that's more Eurasian)history.
So, how do you feel about your books?
I love them. Most of them. I love keeping them around me, and I love looking up and seeing them. I spend a lot of time organising my book shelf according to how the books feel to me (no silly alphabetical or chronological ordering will do).
Would you ever give your books away? Sell your books?
I give away a lot of books, but I always buy them specifically for that purpose. I never give away books I already own that have become part of my Shelf. There are even books I keep many copies of so that I can lend them to people without being without them myself (like Good Omens).
Have any of you ever thought about why you keep your books?
They make me happy. There is of course also the additional benefit of them being CO2 repositories, so I am basically saving the environment. No, really. I am! But the real reason is that I love them. And I think they love me. I cannot relax in rooms that have no books.
I know many of you don't like the ideas of eBooks. That's fine enough. To each his/her own. This post is more about possession. About intellectual exchange, and what it means to be finished with a book. I don't consider it a mark of education to see or to not see books in a household. I know others who would never dream of getting rid of their books. I know plenty of people in tiny apartments who make use of the library.
I live in a tiny apartment. Which means I do not have all my books here. I would if I wouldn't be moving again soon (ie within a year or two), but as it is I only have about 270 here.
From my own perspective, I have a complex about moving. Between NYC and Sydney to Tennessee to Boston to Illinois, I have moved a great deal in the past 7 years. And sometimes helped others move their books(Joe, I am looking at you). And it's a pain. So that factors into my desire to remove the "attachment" to these books. I won't have to worry about them when I move. Packing, unpacking, going downstairs, upstairs, etc. Life is so much easier when the books are on the computer, eReader, backed up onto a flash drive.
I sympathise with the moving problem. Especially moving between countries is a pain.
But electronic books don't smell anything. And they don't love you back. And they do not create a soothing atmosphere. And they are not pretty. And they have no texture. And they are not real. They are only the text. Not books.
I wonder if my books are my last true "material attachment". If working in bookstores and libraries, seeing my mother with over 3000 books, being surrounded by librarians and academics has left me thinking that a house "needs" books in view(Great way to judge, people, btw.)
Yes!
Though I have written this post to see what Rafolites think, I am almost certain to give away all my books to the local library. Karma means actions. And I do think it would be a good action to help a library and in the process perhaps help some future readers of these books be able to access these books.
I will probably donate my collection to a library when I die. Until then, though, they are MINE.
Ok, that's about it.
*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
structured procrastinator
On possession of books.
- 29/10/2009 07:13:44 PM
773 Views
Re: <sings Madonna>
- 29/10/2009 08:06:13 PM
599 Views
My friends wanted to make a bonfire of my books last time I moved.
- 29/10/2009 09:10:16 PM
460 Views
No.
- 29/10/2009 09:28:11 PM
512 Views
i always keep the books i think are worth it
- 29/10/2009 09:38:38 PM
465 Views
If I kept the books I felt worth it, I would keep them all.
- 29/10/2009 09:46:57 PM
468 Views
yes but i have a habit of re-reading my books at some future point -- except the textbooks
- 29/10/2009 10:03:04 PM
517 Views
I'm at an interesting crossroads myself, now that I've got an eBook reader.
- 29/10/2009 09:56:19 PM
597 Views
A failing you say?
- 29/10/2009 10:07:34 PM
512 Views
To quote my wise grandmother, "There's a difference between sentiment and sediment."
- 29/10/2009 10:22:31 PM
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Re: On possession of books.
- 29/10/2009 09:59:04 PM
558 Views
I wouldn't worry.
- 29/10/2009 10:19:10 PM
408 Views
Ok. I won't worry.
- 30/10/2009 01:37:18 PM
481 Views
Are you truly trying to claim that none of the knowledge you've learned from your books
- 30/10/2009 02:51:35 PM
406 Views
I think you may have failed to read the original post or have misunderstood it
- 30/10/2009 03:00:48 PM
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no
- 30/10/2009 03:06:53 PM
487 Views
Re: On possession of books.
- 30/10/2009 01:05:25 PM
738 Views
People seem to lend books! I am in a distinct minority. I don't lend books. Or give them to people.
- 30/10/2009 01:46:25 PM
442 Views
Library donation is a good idea; you might check around with some local schools, too.
- 31/10/2009 02:49:48 PM
625 Views