Dec172007

How I Treat My Books

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“If you would know how a man treats his wife and his children, see how he treats his books.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

How do I treat my books?

Well for a while, like many people these days, I ignored books completely. I had TV and the internet and books never entered into the equation. These Seattle days, all I have is TV and internet and I would like a change and thankfully there is an abundance of quiet, cosy cafes that let me sip my lattes in peace. I don’t know how they make money by letting me occupy a table for hours at a time but I pay them back because I like to take the window seat and this is like free advertising for them. It says, “Hey look! There are shy, sensitive Asian boys reading books in this cafe! If this is your sort of thing, you should come on in and buy him a drink.”

To date: zero free drinks.

I would have more free drinks if I bothered to participate in the card-stamping program. But these drinks are rewards for loyalty and perhaps consistency and not accolades for being particularly shy, sensitive or disarmingly good with rambling descriptions of urban poignancy.

So, how do I treat my books? Here are five things.

One, I don’t use dust jackets. If they come with a jacket, they are removed almost instantly because no one has yet realized the irony that these jackets are the most fragile part of the package. I hate how they crinkle and tear and add unnecessary annoyance to my reading.

Two, I don’t dog-ear pages but I do occasionally let them sit so that gravity holds the pages open. This is because I never properly fulfilled my dream of collecting designer clothing tags to use as bookmarks. This will change but right now I only have two bookmarks: one that Fay lovingly crafted for me as a present and one of those free ones that they give out at the bookstore to advertise the release of the newest airport novel.

Three, I only read one book at a time. The books I start but dislike: I let them linger and wither like a plant without water and only when I have well and truly let go of this attachment do I start a new book. I do not like juggling two or more books at once because I know I am bound to give up on them all, my love of books is tenuous at best so I should not risk such heartbreak.

Four, I hate textbooks. Sure, I’ve enjoyed certain parts of certain textbooks but there has not been one textbook that I have not fallen asleep over. I think they are dry but I hold out hope that one of them out there will change my mind but so far they all succeed at boring the living daylights out of me.

Finally, I don’t baby my books. I don’t stack them neatly, I don’t place them on bookshelves like sporting trophies, I don’t wince as the spine creaks from being pushed too far. I love my books to be sure but I hold no delusions about passing on my books or letting them stand as some sort of personal history. I could see myself doing such a thing but I do not wish to form this type of attachment. This sort of collector-itis is an unnecessary commitment and the vocation shifts from being book lover to being book archivist. I have no interest in building my own personal Library of Congress.

So that’s me! How do you treat your books?

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9 comments »

Mike

I half read most books, then shove them under my bed. Same goes with most things in my life.
Damsel In Digress

awesome post, jack.

i agree completely with removing the dust jackets immediately. but i go a step further. i like to abuse my books. i like when they look weathered. i like when they look like they’ve been enjoyed or hated, depending on the content within. none of this is ever done purposely. i just like things that are used … to look used. to show history. to show it’s done more than just sit on my coffee table.

i have no idea what this will mean about my poor future husband and children though.
Clink

I, too, remove the dust jackets. I just can’t deal with dust jackets.

And I dog ear the hell out of the pages. Also: I highlight them, write in them, spill coffee on them…

I wonder what all that means in the context of…my life. I don’t know if I want to know.
Jack

Mike: Maybe when you get older (and/or move out) you can yank out all those books and finish them. :D

Damsel: I’m the same (I think because I’m a sucker for the symbolism). The books I love looked loved and the books I hated are covered in that awful film of dust that sticks like glue.

Clink: Hmm troubling news indeed. It’s like trying to read tea leaves.
Daniel

I read multiple books at once. At the moment, 6. Whenever I go to someone’s house and find a book in the bathroom, I will always pick it up, but I’ve never actually taken my own books in to my own bathroom. I never did finish that book in my ex’s bathroom. One of life’s great regrets. My books commonly end up on the floor. I don’t remove dust jackets, but any book in my possession will get torn, battered, stained, and crumpled.
Diana

I read one book at a time, though I catch myself reading several at a time too. Most of the time I take good care of my books, in comparison to everyone else. However when a book truly inspires me, I would dog-ear the pages, highlight, even write notes in it.
Mike

Jack, only reason why I’m getting older is coz I have no choice, as for moving out of my parents house – neverz!! neverz I tell you!
Lachlan

Reading a book is almost a once a year event for me. I keep the dust jackets. When I do finally get around to reading them (or sometimes when I don’t) I shelve them and never read them again. I ruin all the spines though :)
karan

Does anyone actually use the dust jackets? I figured they’re for display on the shelf and that’s about it.

I read, and reread, and reread, until I know every turn of plot, and can almost instantly flick to the page with that line of dialogue that flickered in my mind (dog ears only in a pinch.) Then I’ll move on, but then some time later, years maybe, I’ll pick it up again and re-read, and rediscover exactly what it is I loved about it.

What does it all mean? Ha, no idea.

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