I don't know what it is with me and books. I have had an affair with them all my life! But I find them irrestible once I even see them(I assure you it is not bibliomania but only bibliophilia! There is a lot of difference between them! And moreover, I am not the kind who would go to any extent to buy a first edition/out-of-print book just for the heck of it. A booklover according to me is one who really respects his books and takes great care of them.
Gone are the days when I ued to just go and browse the books for hours in Nagasri, Book Paradise, Prism and other bookstores in Jayanagar 4th Block. I even love collecting them. Sometimes I hardly feel like returning them back to the library or to the person I borrowed it from(beware if you are the person I borrow books from!). Hell hath no fury to my cursings if you borrowed a book from me and returned it damaged! Also, I have a friends who invert an open book toremember the page! Ughh... Why the hell cant they find a small piece of paper to use as a bookmark ?
In fact, there are different qualities of first hand and second hand books(thats new and used for the Americans) that I love. The smell of the pages of the new books is something that pulls me into the bookstores every once in a while. Paperbacks, hardbound novels, textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopaedias all have different kinds of smells and feel. Sherlock Holmes would probably have identified the publishers of his day by smelling the paper!
On the other hand, second hand(or used) books have that used 'feel' which is indescribable. A good reader would have made small but intelligent comments/annotations(only pencil allowed! I hate people who write using pens in their printed books) in the margin(though I never write in margins) or provided a reference to some other similar/contrasting work which immediately makes me reach for Google.
I still have the Oxford English dictionary that my grandfather had got on his 11th birthday in 1925! He used the book till his very last days. If he found a new word in the newspaper, he would reach for his dictionary. What is it that enhances the charm of a book as its usage increases ? I know many people who love to just buy brand new books to adorn their bookshelves. What is the use if you never get to 'use' them at all ?
There are some splendid articles by Pradeep Sebastian in the Hindu. His column titled the 'Endpaper' describes the true characteristics of a bibliophile. You can sample his writings on Writing in Margins and Bookshelves.
Gone are the days when I ued to just go and browse the books for hours in Nagasri, Book Paradise, Prism and other bookstores in Jayanagar 4th Block. I even love collecting them. Sometimes I hardly feel like returning them back to the library or to the person I borrowed it from(beware if you are the person I borrow books from!). Hell hath no fury to my cursings if you borrowed a book from me and returned it damaged! Also, I have a friends who invert an open book toremember the page! Ughh... Why the hell cant they find a small piece of paper to use as a bookmark ?
In fact, there are different qualities of first hand and second hand books(thats new and used for the Americans) that I love. The smell of the pages of the new books is something that pulls me into the bookstores every once in a while. Paperbacks, hardbound novels, textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopaedias all have different kinds of smells and feel. Sherlock Holmes would probably have identified the publishers of his day by smelling the paper!
On the other hand, second hand(or used) books have that used 'feel' which is indescribable. A good reader would have made small but intelligent comments/annotations(only pencil allowed! I hate people who write using pens in their printed books) in the margin(though I never write in margins) or provided a reference to some other similar/contrasting work which immediately makes me reach for Google.
I still have the Oxford English dictionary that my grandfather had got on his 11th birthday in 1925! He used the book till his very last days. If he found a new word in the newspaper, he would reach for his dictionary. What is it that enhances the charm of a book as its usage increases ? I know many people who love to just buy brand new books to adorn their bookshelves. What is the use if you never get to 'use' them at all ?
There are some splendid articles by Pradeep Sebastian in the Hindu. His column titled the 'Endpaper' describes the true characteristics of a bibliophile. You can sample his writings on Writing in Margins and Bookshelves.
1 comment:
hi, pratap,
you are the one disguising as 'bengalurina huduga'. thank god you have come out from your den.
nice to see your bookshelf, and the collections as well. how come your subject has changed a bit. you are not talking about kannada heroes, your beautiful b'lore etc;etc;
fine. interests change often. good luck, your uncle,
venkatesh, i am at mumbai now. i am from bangalore, chitradurga, holalkere, kalaghatta, etc etc;
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