Friday, August 24, 2012

Are You a Bibliophile?

by Jean Henry Mead

I confess. I’m a bibliophile.

I love books. Old books, new books, signed books and rare books, especially mystery novels. They're among my most prized possessions. I literally have thousands of books and they’re in every room. We’ve run out of bookcases and many of the ones that have already been read are in boxes, but I can’t bring myself to get rid of them. I still have some from childhood (back in the dark ages).

Another bibliophile, Anne Fadiman, wrote that people who revere first editions and books with lovely covers, and who worry about readers defiling them by writing in the margins, are what she calls “courtly lovers.” She also said that readers “who split open books as if they were ripe fruit, who dog-ear pages and use paperbacks as table mats, are carnal lovers." Which of Fadiman’s categories do you fit into?

I dread the day I have to move because it would cost a fortune to move all these books. And what a backbreaking job that would be. I'm reminded of the time I interviewed Louis L’Amour at his southern California home. His huge office contained floor to ceiling hinged bookcases. Behind them were identical bookcases filled with some 10,000 books. I’m sure he was a fellow bibliophile. I was happy to find one of my own books hiding there on one of the lower shelves next to a copy of Riders of the Purple Sage.

I felt sorry for L’Amour’s housekeeper. Have you ever tried dusting 10,000 books? No wonder librarians are always sneezing. Even my dog sneezes when I take out my swivel duster. Not that I dust mine every day. Writers need time away from housework, but the temptation to caress my books while I take a break at my desk is irresistible. They’re stacked on both sides of my computer and all along the top in built-in bookcases, just sitting there waiting for me to take them down and open them. Or just run my fingers along their spines. It makes me tingle just thinking about it. Western writer Elmer Kelton once told me that his book collection seemed to breed overnight. Bibliophiles are a sensual lot.

Just when it seemed as though a bedroom would have to be converted into a library, ebook readers came along during the '90s and I bought one when my own books were published electronically. I've since gone through the clumsy originals as well as Kindles, a Nook and an iPad, but there's still nothing like holding a print book in my hands, smelling the aroma of ink and rifling through the pages as though on a treasure hunt.

Which format do you prefer and would you trade print books for exclusive electronic reading?

13 comments:

sandy gardner said...

hi,
I'm a self-confessed second-hand book addict. Can't resist library sales, used book stores, etc. occassionally also buy first-hand (new) books, too. I keep buying, bringing them home, and wondering where to put them.... I have built-in floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in one room, portable bookshelves in another room. they're all filled and the "new" books are shelved on top of the old. Can't seem to stop! I'm not a first-edition or rare book person (except for a hard-cover set of Dickens and two hard-cover vintage children's book series). Have many mysteries, lots of historical mysteries, (naturally, since I write them!) and some which aren't --
One friend said that our bookshelves are part of our house's design element (170 year old farmhouse)-- shows that 2 writers live there!
Sandy Gardner
sgardner2@hvc.rr.com

sandy gardner said...

ps no electronic book-substitutes!

Joanie said...

I love books in every form. I never thought I'd like electronic books until I finally had to get a Kindle because so much of my work was coming in as digital, and I really hate reading for any length of time on the laptop. Now, I happily take my Kindle everywhere I go. I still like hard copy best, but I love the ease of knowing whatever is on my Kindle is right there at hand, and if I don't want to change to my reading glasses I can just make the font GROW. I guess you could say I'm the equivalent of ambidextrous when it comes to reading now--hard copy or digital, I love 'em all!

Joanie

Patricia Stoltey said...

I still love print books, even though I use a Kindle as well as a Nook tablet when I travel. However, I don't try to keep books forever. If I did, there would be no room in my house for furniture and groceries. I sometimes give them (gently read) away on my blog, or donate them to our Friends of the Library or other organizations for their fund-raising book sales.

Jean Henry Mead said...

Sandy, I know what you mean about bookshelves being part of the house design. I've got so many that I've color coordinated them with a particular room. :)

Jean Henry Mead said...

Joanie, I have to admit that ebook readers have a lot of advantages such as audio functions when your eyes are too tired to read, and adjusting the font size as well as being able to have over a hundred books to read wherever you happen to be that you can carry in your purse.

Jean Henry Mead said...

Patricia, I know the day is coming soon when I'll have to donate most of my books, but I'm going to enjoy them as long as I can.

Earl Staggs said...

Jean, I have bookshelves in my office, boxes of them in the attic. I even have a box of books in the trunk of my car in case I ever get caught in a really long traffic jam. I "loan" books to friends and, of course, never see them again. Once, I even took a bunch of them to a half-price book store. It felt like I was dropping my kids off to an orphanage. Bibliophilia is an incurable disease.

Jean Henry Mead said...

That it is, Earl, especially when, in a weak moment, you buy a leather bound copy that could pay for a tank of gas. :)

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

I love books too and have bookcases in every room--even places for books in the bathroom.

Morgan Mandel said...

Right know I love my kindle. Every once in a while I'll go back to reading print books. I still have many print books at home I never read. I'm going to go through another batch and give ones with small print to the library.

Morgan Mandel

Jean Henry Mead said...

Marilyn, I do too. And it's a shame that so many bookstores are going under because of the ebook revolution.

Jean Henry Mead said...

I'm going to have to do the same with most of my hardcover books, Morgan. I write fulltime and don't have time to dust them often enough.