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A better understanding of my LIBRARY

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Chris OConnor

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Re: A better understanding of my LIBRARY

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Jim Watters wrote: Wed Jun 15, 2022 11:53 pm I stopped "reading" books 20 or more years ago: as in fiction and non-fiction. I strive to spend most of my time studying math, science and computer books. I hope to have time eventually to concentrate on them. (Some I have acquired in digital format).
I know how much passion you have for both math and science, but I bet you'd find it extremely rewarding to dive into some quality fiction. You've just drifted away from fiction for so long that you forget the reason people enjoy it. At least that's my guess. I'd set a goal to give a popular fiction book a shot to see if it rekindles an interest.
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DWill

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Re: A better understanding of my LIBRARY

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It's heartwarming in a way I can't define to read about the relationship you all have to your books. I don't think I could feel that way about any other item that people like to collect.

About 25 years ago, my wife persuaded me that rabbits would be good indoor pets for our two young girls. Sue had had such a pet growing up, and it worked out great (right!). Well, those bunnies had quite a penchant for book bindings. Soon they found themselves moved to a basement cage, then to a cage outdoors, where to this day I'm convinced bunnies belong.

I think of myself as a minimalist, though don't worry, I actually have plenty of stuff. The item I could be said to have a lot of is books, many of which reproach me for leaving them unread. But due to having given away lots of them, as well as at least one basement flood, the number isn't huge--maybe 250 right now? Do you know that John Milton quote, "Good books though few"? I think it would be neat to have just a core set of books that you knew almost by heart. But in general we tend to want to gobble up more books than we have time for, spreading ourselves thin.

Thinking randomly, recently we saw the remake of " Fahrenheit 451," starring Michael B. Jordan. He's always likeable, but the film I thought was a dud. Not much was made of the "book people," those who had become their book by memorizing every word. In the original, which we watched again after, the plot culminates when Montag reaches the safety of that unique literary colony and begins to become "The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe."
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Re: A better understanding of my LIBRARY

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DWill wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 12:27 am It's heartwarming in a way I can't define to read about the relationship you all have to your books. I don't think I could feel that way about any other item that people like to collect.
When I Googled “non-fiction books about books” I was impressed by the large number I found. I thought this one to be particularly interesting and wondered if BTers might find it to be a good choice for the next discussion:

PACKING MY LIBRARY: AN ELEGY AND TEN DIGRESSIONS BY ALBERTO MANGUEL
From one of the most prolific writers on books of our age, this is Manguel’s short and subtle memoir about packing up his library. While he moves with it across continents and oceans, it holds much more than it seems.

Full of deep self-observations as well as cultural commentary, Manguel outlines how the books we collect during our lifetimes not only shape us as readers but define our paths as members of society. With wonderfully insightful observations and quotes, full of luscious descriptions of a reader’s formative experiences, Manguel takes you on a journey that intimately traces his own life and that of his books. In combining the two, he makes profoundly moving observations on the role of literature in modern society.

And this comment from a reader:
This is a small book of 144 pages, but it is filled with learning, history, literature, and wisdom that one can read it about once a week for the rest of one’s life. Manguel packs ten digressions into his short tale, but every digression is a lovely detour into a different, yet familiar, literary terrain. In his digressions, Manguel discusses man’s desire for identity and affirmation, justice, the purpose of the novel, the dictionary, and dreams – among many other lively reflections of things that affect our literary mind. This is what he says of reading: 'The discovery of the art of reading is intimate, obscure, secret, almost impossible to explain, akin to falling in love, if you will forgive the maudlin comparison.'

BRARY%3A+AN+ELEGY+AND+TEN+DIGRESSIONS+BY+ALBERTO+MANGUEL&qid=1655898808&sprefix=packing+my+library+an+elegy+and+ten+digressions+by+alberto+manguel%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1&asin=0300219334&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1
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Re: A better understanding of my LIBRARY

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Reminds me of why I keep old encyclopedias around. I don't always look at them, but I have a set in my writing room I turn to when I want a better understanding of a subject. As a reference, they're outdated by decades, but as a means to familiarization they work great. I turn to a subject, learn some early basics, and advance my knowledge by looking at up-to-date material.
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Re: A better understanding of my LIBRARY

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Hoarding books ? Guilty. :P Movie DVD's and even old VHS Tapes.
Perhaps it's OCD. But when people ask me what I want for Christmas I explain that I'd like to have steel beams to under pin my sagging floors.

The statement garners some odd expressions on their faces. Until I explain that it's the result of my huge collection of }}}} BOOKS {{{{{ !
All human actions have one or more of these seven human causes: Chance, Nature, Compulsion, Habit, Reason, Passion, and Desire. Aristotle
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Re: A better understanding of my LIBRARY

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Brooks127 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 8:46 pm Reminds me of why I keep old encyclopedias around. I don't always look at them, but I have a set in my writing room I turn to when I want a better understanding of a subject. As a reference, they're outdated by decades, but as a means to familiarization they work great. I turn to a subject, learn some early basics, and advance my knowledge by looking at up-to-date material.
This conversation is making me regret getting rid of my father's World Book Encyclopedias, from the 1950's or early 60's. I lugged them around most of my life, but eventually threw in the towel and gave them away. I've had to get rid of hundreds of books due to lack of space for displaying or staring them, but those World Book Encyclopedias are what I miss the most.

Last week I was rummaging through some old boxes and I found my dad's Harvard Press books. That was a relief. I'm glad I held on to them. It really is crazy how we can develop an emotional attachment to our books.
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