The great works of fiction, the art books with full-color plates, the wispy illustration books full of peewee nostalgia — I’d never willingly part with one of them. Insignificant books, untouched books, even those books I consider physical nuisances — same. I have books on the bookshelves, books in the basement, books under the bed, books piled high on top of my wife...
Books are notes from the field, bound and domesticated, life brought into narrow focus. Get rid of a book? No way. Every one is a brick keeping the building standing. Books are my life. I leave and come back, and the books I find there tell me I’m home.
via roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com
Joshua Ferris forbids the weeding of collections in this great selection of advice from experts at the New York Times Room for Debate blog.
This reminds me of a passage from Joanna Murray-Smith's Truce...
"...walking into a house without books made me feel nervous and exposed. Walls without books seem like canvas: rooves suspended whimsically, inhabitants vulnerable to all storms."
I agree with both of them.
Posted by: Lani Giesen | April 27, 2010 at 11:19 AM
I think the key words here are "house" and "home." When I hear that someone has a large and untrimmed collection of books my first thought is not, "Oh, that person must be an avid reader," but, "That person has money; they own a house." Or a flat: a flat will do. But they own it. They do not expect to move.
Posted by: DKS | May 10, 2010 at 10:39 AM