Sometimes I'll see an old stain on a page from eating chocolate or peanut butter and it will make me happy, because snacking while reading is the best!
Defacing library books is my no no. These are sharing books and deserve to be respected for the next person. My own books do get underlined and i can never find a bookmark when needed!
Actually i have realised that i write in my bible all the time, cross ref/highlight / underlining etc! So i am being hypocritical with regards to this:) still stand on the library books tho:)
This must be in the air. I’m working on something about iterations in art. I remember the first time I saw someone slit a book block on the inside of the cover and then tear the block from the case. Horror! Now, I’ve done it many times and it always makes me half sad half gleeful.
It’s more to do with manufacturing. Sometimes you do it to see the binding. Sometimes you do it to recycle the innards. It’s kind of like a book autopsy.
That’s interesting because you’re introducing a few additional angles, including the instrumentality of the cut. The purpose of the incision ought to be factored in how we think of it—e.g., there’s another purpose for the book block or case.
Well done! When I was a perfectionist youth, I would open books only so far as to be able to read them. I felt superior if I could do so without bending the spine at all. Now, I have relaxed and let myself read and underline and crack spines however suits me best. If it's a special edition, I'll be more careful. But I now believe most books are meant to be *read* and only a few to be *preserved.* Fortunately, depending on your circular economy preferences, we now live in a time where books are abundant, comparatively cheap, and don't need to last for generations.
A respectable viewpoint. The abundance of books is worth remembering. I rarely worry about culling a book from my library because, should the need arise, I can usually find another copy. That kind of abundance affects how we treat books as well.
Books are sacred objects. High Holy art. Not like frescoes, or leaded windows. Not like relics or artifacts. They can't be venerated when cordoned off or underglass. Books are like prayer beads, like rosaries. Like malas, like guitars. They are made sacred by their scrapes and scratches. By their distress. By their abrasions. By their wear. "You shall know them by their fruits," comes to mind. Not something to be worshipped but the act of our worshipping. Books, like the holiest of all objects are venerated through their use.
This list of admissions makes me happy! I love that you’re getting full use out of your books and have developed a set of practices that enable you to do it.
Oct 18, 2023·edited Oct 18, 2023Liked by Joel J Miller
I once read that the an author spoke to us through time in words on a page. I write in books because I am answering and asking. I date the day I read a section and where I am as a way of remembering who I was when the author and I spoke as the next time I read the book, I may have grown into a woman who needs to be reminded of the heart that wrote the scratched musings in the margins.
I have a few lovely hardbacks that I handle with care, but if I love the book, I buy the paperback so I can write in it. One of my ten children already claimed my library, though that was disputed immediately as many of my children want it and I am still alive.
I struggle against some terrible impulses, such as laying a book open facedown to keep my place "just for a moment." And I'm guilty of reading and eating (one of life's greatest pleasures!). I maintain that intelligent annotation is a positive addition to a book. The idea of tearing out chunks does, I admit, horrify me!
I wish I could write in books, but I just can’t. I was a poor kid and had very few books of my own. Trips to the library every week meant I had plenty to read, but one doesn’t write in library books. Now, I sell used books for a living, and excessive writing/underlining/highlighting makes a book unfit for resale.
I throw away books every day now as part of my work; we guarantee trade-ins for books bought from us, so if a customer brings back one of “our” books with a broken spine, or reeking of tobacco, we uncomplainingly issue credit to the customer then(when they’re not looking) tear the cover off the book and discard it. This was difficult for me the first few times, but one quickly gets used to it. You start to think of it like a magazine or newspaper or phone book; the book has done its job and is not, of itself, a sacred thing.
I treat my own volumes with a great deal of care. Well--except for food. I can’t help but eat and drink while I read, and if a few stray crumbs or smears get into the book, c’est la vie.
I worked in a used bookstore for a few years. I whenever someone would bring in books for trade or credit, I’d have to reject books that were underlined, highlighted, or showed any significant signs of damage. Come to think of it, that might be where my aversion to cracked spines comes from.
I can't imagine a world in which books aren't used in every way seen fit by their owner. I have books that I have read more than 10 times. The margin notes are personal history lessons.
Ahh, what a great topic. I have immaculate books under glass and books I’ve marked in light pencil out of concern for the next reader. I’ve torn out sections and filed them for future reference then tossed the excess. I’ve taken book sets of classics too rough to ever be collectibles and use them as plant stands and pottery pedestals. A missing book cover or one in bad shape will devalue a first edition so I always remove them before reading. First editions of great authors always go under glass for future value. Oh, how I hope and pray my grandchildren will care for my collection, but better yet, READ THEM!!
I know I’m guilty of folding the page corners (only on books I don’t care much about and I don’t have a bookmark; otherwise I try to remember where I stopped reading). I also have a few coffee-stained and highlighted books and I have left plenty of paperback books facing downwards. To me, the greatest book crime is taking a book into the bathroom. Once I see that, the book is dead to me. Even Seinfeld devoted an episode to it.
I consume my books: noting, highlighting and devouring them. But I do so carefully and respectfully. I only dog ear when I absolutely have to. And I do love a good dust cover.
It’s “people WHO build large libraries of immaculate and well cared for books.” It’s not “people THAT build large libraries...” “Who” refers to people, while “that” refers to animals or things (inanimate objects).
There. Now my black editorial heart is happy. ☺️ Otherwise, it’s cracking spines on paperback books (they’re too expensive these days for that kind of treatment, really), and like you, discarding dust jackets, that make me want to cry.
Haha. Good catch! I’m with you on cracking a spine. Every now and then I’ll see a used book I want to buy but pause because of the spine—even if I really want the book. I’ll usually succumb if my choices are few, but I hate having broken spines in my library.
My grandpa was the Chief of the Main Library in San Francisco, my mom and aunt were also librarians. I can’t begin to describe the deep “book reverence” that was drilled into me from an early age. Today, I feel sinful if I dog-ear a page. And if I write in the margins, it’s always in pencil and light enough so an imaginary (and beleaguered!) librarian isn’t left trying to erase my scribblings.
Dog earring pages is pretty terrible. But writing! Oh, it’s liberating—and so useful.
Fascinating to hear the backstory on your convictions! We’re all operating out of deep conditioning, most of which we don’t fully understand or even recognize. I often think of this line from Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld in The Triple Package: “Whether a person chooses to embrace or run screaming from his cultural background, it's still there, formative and significant.”
I still remember when my mom used to chop her huge books in half so they'd fit in her luggage, and it absolutely HORRIFIED me (still does, tbh)😂. I'm very precious with my books and always have been, but that doesn't mean I can't still laugh at how anal I get about any form of damage or "mutilation" that might possibly occur as a result of them simply *existing* as books, one of the most easily damageable things on the planet.
It’s funny how much wear and tear is just part of existing—true for books and people too. I’ll be fifty in a few years. I’ve got books that are well into middle age as well :)
I’m actually delighted to hear about your mom. The first I’d ever heard of someone cutting their books in half was Alex Christofi. Then I heard about someone else who did it. Your mom makes three. It’s a big world.
OMG I love that! I'm sure she'd be honored to be included in that very short list (also you really should see me with my books whenever I so much as pick them up, I don't wanna hear/see/feel anything cracking or ripping or bending or doing anything that makes it look anything less than aesthetically perfect, and if anything like that does happen to them I honestly feel like crying, if that doesn't say something about how I view my own life I don't know what does😂)
Sometimes I'll see an old stain on a page from eating chocolate or peanut butter and it will make me happy, because snacking while reading is the best!
Only if it’s in one of my own books, maybe. 🤔
But not if I see it in someone else’s book. Ugh.
My sin is coffee stains. I often read with coffee and happen to be somewhat clumsy. It’s inevitable that I jostle my mug from time to time.
Defacing library books is my no no. These are sharing books and deserve to be respected for the next person. My own books do get underlined and i can never find a bookmark when needed!
I think underlining your own books is just part of using them. Fully endorsed!
Actually i have realised that i write in my bible all the time, cross ref/highlight / underlining etc! So i am being hypocritical with regards to this:) still stand on the library books tho:)
LOL. I think it all comes down to how we best use a book. Writing in your Bible is a great example. I rarely write in mine—though every now and then …
LOL
This must be in the air. I’m working on something about iterations in art. I remember the first time I saw someone slit a book block on the inside of the cover and then tear the block from the case. Horror! Now, I’ve done it many times and it always makes me half sad half gleeful.
Whoa—never heard of anyone doing that before! Pray tell what is the benefit? Lighter and more portable, perhaps?
It’s more to do with manufacturing. Sometimes you do it to see the binding. Sometimes you do it to recycle the innards. It’s kind of like a book autopsy.
That’s interesting because you’re introducing a few additional angles, including the instrumentality of the cut. The purpose of the incision ought to be factored in how we think of it—e.g., there’s another purpose for the book block or case.
Well done! When I was a perfectionist youth, I would open books only so far as to be able to read them. I felt superior if I could do so without bending the spine at all. Now, I have relaxed and let myself read and underline and crack spines however suits me best. If it's a special edition, I'll be more careful. But I now believe most books are meant to be *read* and only a few to be *preserved.* Fortunately, depending on your circular economy preferences, we now live in a time where books are abundant, comparatively cheap, and don't need to last for generations.
A respectable viewpoint. The abundance of books is worth remembering. I rarely worry about culling a book from my library because, should the need arise, I can usually find another copy. That kind of abundance affects how we treat books as well.
Books are sacred objects. High Holy art. Not like frescoes, or leaded windows. Not like relics or artifacts. They can't be venerated when cordoned off or underglass. Books are like prayer beads, like rosaries. Like malas, like guitars. They are made sacred by their scrapes and scratches. By their distress. By their abrasions. By their wear. "You shall know them by their fruits," comes to mind. Not something to be worshipped but the act of our worshipping. Books, like the holiest of all objects are venerated through their use.
I do believe that books can be venerated through their use—and that veneration can leave marks.
Exactly! I believe that the mark making is, itself, the act of veneration.
I had not quite realized how many book crimes I was committing:
"Never, in reading, fold down the corners of the leaves" - guilty (when I can't find a bookmark)
"Never leave a book face downwards"- guilty (this way I don't have to fold down the corner)
"Never wrench a book open, if the back be stiff" - guilty (how else could you hold the book comfortably?)
" stained more than a few with coffee" - also guilty ( quite a lot...)
- and I am sorry Joel, I am not a fan of dust jackets (although I do not throw them out). So I guess I am on your "do not loan" list...
Thanks for the entertaining read!
This list of admissions makes me happy! I love that you’re getting full use out of your books and have developed a set of practices that enable you to do it.
Ruth, I also take the jackets off. I have a pile of them in my office for whatever books I have going at the time. Drives my wife nuts ;)
I do remove the jackets from some of my books temporarily. I don’t want to mar them while reading before I photograph them for the review!
I once read that the an author spoke to us through time in words on a page. I write in books because I am answering and asking. I date the day I read a section and where I am as a way of remembering who I was when the author and I spoke as the next time I read the book, I may have grown into a woman who needs to be reminded of the heart that wrote the scratched musings in the margins.
I have a few lovely hardbacks that I handle with care, but if I love the book, I buy the paperback so I can write in it. One of my ten children already claimed my library, though that was disputed immediately as many of my children want it and I am still alive.
I love those thoughts about marginalia.
I struggle against some terrible impulses, such as laying a book open facedown to keep my place "just for a moment." And I'm guilty of reading and eating (one of life's greatest pleasures!). I maintain that intelligent annotation is a positive addition to a book. The idea of tearing out chunks does, I admit, horrify me!
I totally agree on the point about annotation being additive. It’s part of using a book—and making personal improvements to it.
But I’m with you on tearing out pages—beyond the pale.
I wish I could write in books, but I just can’t. I was a poor kid and had very few books of my own. Trips to the library every week meant I had plenty to read, but one doesn’t write in library books. Now, I sell used books for a living, and excessive writing/underlining/highlighting makes a book unfit for resale.
I throw away books every day now as part of my work; we guarantee trade-ins for books bought from us, so if a customer brings back one of “our” books with a broken spine, or reeking of tobacco, we uncomplainingly issue credit to the customer then(when they’re not looking) tear the cover off the book and discard it. This was difficult for me the first few times, but one quickly gets used to it. You start to think of it like a magazine or newspaper or phone book; the book has done its job and is not, of itself, a sacred thing.
I treat my own volumes with a great deal of care. Well--except for food. I can’t help but eat and drink while I read, and if a few stray crumbs or smears get into the book, c’est la vie.
I worked in a used bookstore for a few years. I whenever someone would bring in books for trade or credit, I’d have to reject books that were underlined, highlighted, or showed any significant signs of damage. Come to think of it, that might be where my aversion to cracked spines comes from.
I can't imagine a world in which books aren't used in every way seen fit by their owner. I have books that I have read more than 10 times. The margin notes are personal history lessons.
I’m with you! And what’s better than great marginalia?
That is a good point.
Ahh, what a great topic. I have immaculate books under glass and books I’ve marked in light pencil out of concern for the next reader. I’ve torn out sections and filed them for future reference then tossed the excess. I’ve taken book sets of classics too rough to ever be collectibles and use them as plant stands and pottery pedestals. A missing book cover or one in bad shape will devalue a first edition so I always remove them before reading. First editions of great authors always go under glass for future value. Oh, how I hope and pray my grandchildren will care for my collection, but better yet, READ THEM!!
Yes! I appreciate the range of uses.
I know I’m guilty of folding the page corners (only on books I don’t care much about and I don’t have a bookmark; otherwise I try to remember where I stopped reading). I also have a few coffee-stained and highlighted books and I have left plenty of paperback books facing downwards. To me, the greatest book crime is taking a book into the bathroom. Once I see that, the book is dead to me. Even Seinfeld devoted an episode to it.
LOL! Yes, though I must admit …
I strongly recommend Anne Fadiman’s essay on courtly vs carnal lovers of books. It’s reprinted here:
https://slate.com/culture/2020/02/anne-fadiman-never-do-that-book-courtly-carnal.html
Love it. Thanks for the recommendation!
I consume my books: noting, highlighting and devouring them. But I do so carefully and respectfully. I only dog ear when I absolutely have to. And I do love a good dust cover.
I think that makes sense. We use books. Using requires we don’t treat them like sacred objects.
It’s “people WHO build large libraries of immaculate and well cared for books.” It’s not “people THAT build large libraries...” “Who” refers to people, while “that” refers to animals or things (inanimate objects).
There. Now my black editorial heart is happy. ☺️ Otherwise, it’s cracking spines on paperback books (they’re too expensive these days for that kind of treatment, really), and like you, discarding dust jackets, that make me want to cry.
Haha. Good catch! I’m with you on cracking a spine. Every now and then I’ll see a used book I want to buy but pause because of the spine—even if I really want the book. I’ll usually succumb if my choices are few, but I hate having broken spines in my library.
Me too, on whether to buy a used book with a cracked spine; not if other undamaged choices are available. Thank you for a fun read this morning!
My grandpa was the Chief of the Main Library in San Francisco, my mom and aunt were also librarians. I can’t begin to describe the deep “book reverence” that was drilled into me from an early age. Today, I feel sinful if I dog-ear a page. And if I write in the margins, it’s always in pencil and light enough so an imaginary (and beleaguered!) librarian isn’t left trying to erase my scribblings.
Dog earring pages is pretty terrible. But writing! Oh, it’s liberating—and so useful.
Fascinating to hear the backstory on your convictions! We’re all operating out of deep conditioning, most of which we don’t fully understand or even recognize. I often think of this line from Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld in The Triple Package: “Whether a person chooses to embrace or run screaming from his cultural background, it's still there, formative and significant.”
That’s not to say I’m great with books, it’s just that I can’t plead ignorance when I treat them poorly… the confessional awaits.
Haha!
I still remember when my mom used to chop her huge books in half so they'd fit in her luggage, and it absolutely HORRIFIED me (still does, tbh)😂. I'm very precious with my books and always have been, but that doesn't mean I can't still laugh at how anal I get about any form of damage or "mutilation" that might possibly occur as a result of them simply *existing* as books, one of the most easily damageable things on the planet.
It’s funny how much wear and tear is just part of existing—true for books and people too. I’ll be fifty in a few years. I’ve got books that are well into middle age as well :)
I’m actually delighted to hear about your mom. The first I’d ever heard of someone cutting their books in half was Alex Christofi. Then I heard about someone else who did it. Your mom makes three. It’s a big world.
OMG I love that! I'm sure she'd be honored to be included in that very short list (also you really should see me with my books whenever I so much as pick them up, I don't wanna hear/see/feel anything cracking or ripping or bending or doing anything that makes it look anything less than aesthetically perfect, and if anything like that does happen to them I honestly feel like crying, if that doesn't say something about how I view my own life I don't know what does😂)