My Books and Me
When Merrick got married, there was a wedding dinner after the ceremony and one of her husband’s friends gave a little speech and mentioned that Philip is extremely careful with his books. This friend said that when he borrowed Philip’s books, he didn’t open them to more than a 90 degree angle so as not to break the spine.
This kind of blew my mind. I really had never realized people tried not to break the spine. I also worried that maybe I was haphazardly breaking book spines all over the place without even realizing it.
If I borrow a book from you, I will be careful with it. I’ll try and return it in as nice of shape as you gave it to me (I know you’re doubting that now. . . ).
But my own books?
They are for reading, for loving to pieces, for lending around.
I read while I eat, I shove my books in my purse or bag, toss them on the backseat of the car, stack them up precariously next to my bed, and let Ella turn the pages (she’s amazingly careful with them, which I know means that she’ll probably rip fifty pages out of something tomorrow).
The aide at my library in Boston was horrified by my habit of putting books opened, face-down. I . . . didn’t even know you weren’t supposed to do that until she commented on it.
My mom turns down the corner of the page to mark her place, which I know some people find horrifying (I don’t do this myself but it’s because I’m too lazy).
My favorite books are very well-loved looking. The back covers are falling off, the pages are worn and the edges are fuzzy. I like them that way.
I don’t hoard my books (except for a few precious ones, like my Laura Ingalls Wilder collection or my Louisa May Alcott set). I like to let people borrow them.
Gretchen, who I’d never met until Saturday, came over and picked out a number of my BEA books to read. I was delighted that someone else could enjoy them (the fact that she brought me half a dozen donuts didn’t hurt either; neither did the fact that she kept oohing and ahhing over Ella, who took a real shine to her).
I don’t think of my books as an archival library. I weed my books ruthlessly, I give some away, I sell others, I donate many of the advance copies to the local library. I use them and then, if I’m done with them, I find another home for them. I let Ella take them off the shelf and look through them.
I get joy out of my books being read, looked at, flipped through, turned over, being loved. And if that means they don’t look crisp and new, well, that’s a price I’m more than happy to pay.
I am with you on this. There might be some books I am more careful with, but books are meant to be used and read (and for school books, written in).
Whenever I’d come home from preschool, my dad would inspect my knees. He’d say, “Good. You’re dirty. That means you had a good day.” I must have unconsciously kept that philosophy with my books. I keep tons of books because I’m a big re-reader. I’m proud of the worn books on my shelf because it shows that I love the stories enough to want to visit them again and again!
This is awesome! I do a few things that are frowned upon with books, like lay them face down from time to time, but I'm a little more hesitant to lend my books to people who are very hard on them. I should take a page from your book. (nice pun, huh?) and just let books be truly enjoyed.
I am exactly like you. I like my books to look like they've been read. Plus I write in them a lot.
Anne Fadiman has an essay called "Never Do that To a Book!" that talks about the different types of reader. You're either a courtly reader and treat your books carefully, or you're a carnal reader and you, well…aren't.
I'm absolutely a carnal book lover! The essay is in her collection Ex Libris and I think you can read it at this link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Bc9LpS6o6VwC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=never+do+that+to+a+book+anne+fadiman&source=bl&ots=Lpopb_nE6a&sig=9GB4UjwzV-9ziGBxm5JWasNbpuM&hl=en&ei=aPUUTvjPCePhiAKetPTlDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false
I was just about to mention the Anne Fadiman essay too! I am more a carnal than courtly book lover myself, but I will admit to not liking the turn-down-the-corner approach to bookmarking. I've seen too many used books and library books missing corners of pages, and sometimes they were folded carelessly enough that words were lost. Ow! But overall, I like to enjoy the body as well as the soul of the book.
Agreed on all counts. I also go out of my way to avoid hard back books in most cases because they are hard to stick in a purse, read in the bath, lay face down on the table, etc.
woot-woot!
I'm pretty pristine with my books. No writing, no bending the spine, no folding corners. I do eat and read, though. Library books are even more tightly protected due to my fear of getting in trouble.
At the beach this week, I always gasped a bit when I saw people fold the covers completely over the back of their books. The spine, the spine! It does hurt me a bit.
However, I love having cookbooks spattered with stuff. I am quite complex, it seems.
Great blog!
I agree with you. My books are on the floor, on a shelf and scattered about. The only ones that I keep neatly stacked are my classic hardcovers.
I couldn't agree more! I love to love my books… and have no problem with my kids stacking and playing with them. Even, surprisingly, my vintage books are allowed to be loved (much to Jeremy's horror!)
Agreed! I am admittedly pretty hard on my own books, but only because I love them so. 🙂
I love to love my books and I have no problem lending out my books…except the time one girl dropped it in the tub and gave it back to me still stamp and all the pages stuck together. That was irritating.