I've finally cracked and made a decision that all bibliophiles must make at some point in their lives. I have decided that I will not buy or borrow any new books for pleasure until I have read every book that I currently own.
I do not take this decision lightly, I'm positively dreading certain books lurking at the back of my bookshelves, tomes which I have previously attempted to read but simply couldn't finish. The fact remains however that I own too many books for my limited floor space. The bookshelf overflowed ages ago despite being stacked two deep with books crammed horizontally in the small areas of extra space on top of these and now the stack of titles next to the bed is getting precariously large. So in an attempt to prevent death by book avalanche and in a nod to the current austerity drive, I will be purveying the wares I already own with a critical eye.
A secondary motivation behind this decision is my genuine sadness and horror over the predicted future of the printed word. It seems to have been accepted by the world at large that computerised technology will revolutionise the act of reading, making the current printing, binding and even methods of book selection obsolete within the near future. I’ve found myself confronting this spectre directly thanks to my sister receiving a Kindle for Christmas. To make myself perfectly clear on this subject: you will have to pry my books from my cold, dead hands before I accept that I have to read via a screen. Reading to me is about the entire experience: the weight and smell of a volume and the pure physicality of page turning is as much a part of the pleasure as the words I’m reading. On a more practical note, I am hideously short-sighted and find reading in a traditional medium less straining and tiring than any form of computerised reading, even the special non back- lit kinds.
Following this train of thought, I realised I haven’t been affording my books the value they deserve and have decided that it is a crime against the arts to leave them unread, gathering dust, especially when you consider that many people in the world simply do not have easy access to the wide variety of books that we in the Western World do. So, for the time being, I shall not be parting with any money nor borrowing any books until I have worked my way through those that I already own and I’ll be keeping you informed on my progress.
Is anyone out there thinking of doing a similar thing? Do you have a read everything before buying more policy already? Let me know, leave a comment below.
I do not take this decision lightly, I'm positively dreading certain books lurking at the back of my bookshelves, tomes which I have previously attempted to read but simply couldn't finish. The fact remains however that I own too many books for my limited floor space. The bookshelf overflowed ages ago despite being stacked two deep with books crammed horizontally in the small areas of extra space on top of these and now the stack of titles next to the bed is getting precariously large. So in an attempt to prevent death by book avalanche and in a nod to the current austerity drive, I will be purveying the wares I already own with a critical eye.
A secondary motivation behind this decision is my genuine sadness and horror over the predicted future of the printed word. It seems to have been accepted by the world at large that computerised technology will revolutionise the act of reading, making the current printing, binding and even methods of book selection obsolete within the near future. I’ve found myself confronting this spectre directly thanks to my sister receiving a Kindle for Christmas. To make myself perfectly clear on this subject: you will have to pry my books from my cold, dead hands before I accept that I have to read via a screen. Reading to me is about the entire experience: the weight and smell of a volume and the pure physicality of page turning is as much a part of the pleasure as the words I’m reading. On a more practical note, I am hideously short-sighted and find reading in a traditional medium less straining and tiring than any form of computerised reading, even the special non back- lit kinds.
Following this train of thought, I realised I haven’t been affording my books the value they deserve and have decided that it is a crime against the arts to leave them unread, gathering dust, especially when you consider that many people in the world simply do not have easy access to the wide variety of books that we in the Western World do. So, for the time being, I shall not be parting with any money nor borrowing any books until I have worked my way through those that I already own and I’ll be keeping you informed on my progress.
Is anyone out there thinking of doing a similar thing? Do you have a read everything before buying more policy already? Let me know, leave a comment below.
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