Where I Am With Books & Reading

Book Buying: Immaterial or Physical Purchases


Who are we when we buy a book? Are we readers, collectors, shoppers, or bored? Does the book or books we are looking for alter our image of ourselves? Does the book influence how we imagine others see us with the book? Should we assume in the act of buying, that we or someone else will read it? Is reading a book necessary to appreciate it? Who are we when we buy books? Breaking these questions into two general categories may help. We can start by thinking of the psychological influences of books and then more physical and monetary traits.

Psychological Ideas on Book Buying

Most of us in the act of shopping for a book or in the act of reading are not conscious of a subtle change in our consciousness. We think of ourselves as more or less constant, our egos, and roles persist without polish or tarnish by people or experience. We like to see ourselves as travelers cocooned, immune to life's knocks and blandishments. But, are we? No, we are subject to the environment and its effects like anything else. We are in some ways tabula rasa no matter what our age. And this is where books come into play. Although authors are tabula rasa in their infancy, books like people, are informed, grow into maturity, then contain whatever the parent (author) provides. Releasing to the world, the roles reverse. Readers become the infants. We are without complete knowledge of the book and we are taught by reading it. Now the book is the instructor and imprinting happens on our inner tabula rasa.

In some cases, the influence of a book starts before we have it in our possession. We are not aware of our susceptibility, and would deny that simply holding a book in our hands, or even thinking about the book, starts a mode of communication. How could this be? A book is an inanimate object, and it does not have a consciousness. It cannot compel us to react, feel, think, reject or otherwise change our behavior. Of course if you think about it, a book can do all of these things. A book may influence us as we read and conjure an effect. A book can impel us by linking the author to us and working inside our defenses. This is a psychological relationship we have with whatever book we are reading. The book acts as a proxy for the author. It is the author talking to us. It is a dialog. We are talking back to the book. However, sometimes we can’t help but laugh, cry, or cry foul. Most of the dialog is an inner dialog created by the story. It is the genius of the author spinning his or her web of magic, linking to readers’ imaginations and making communication happen.


Books as Information Packages: Blessings or Dangers

As writers, publishers, and book people in general, we love books. Bibliophiles through the ages have waxed poetic about them. Books have assumed a privileged place for those who write articles in magazines, anthologies about books, and other book matter. It is difficult to argue with the authors because we have the book bug too. However, as in all things humans love, there is the flip side. Books can be dangerous. Books can kill.

We don’t talk much about the dark side of books. We prefer to love them. We praise authors, cover art, quality binding, rarity, and whether its literary and monetary values appreciate over time. Book lovers can dislike a particular book, but do not fear them, and do not view books as hazardous. How could books be a malefic? They are made of paper, glue, and sometimes cloth. Books are things. Books are our creations. They are like children we birth, nurture, endow with what wisdom we have and release them into the world. How could books be anything but things? They are objects, containers of information, stories, and sometimes wisdom. Are not books good?

Most are good and some are wonderful but their longevity may be a problem. Books are more than their materials and more than simple packages of content. When we reflect on what books contain we know books are packages or vehicles of communication. They carry information from one place and time to another. Books may travel all over the globe. They can outlast the lifetime of the author by centuries or millenniums. Like ancient monuments etched in glyphs, books are crystallized information living much longer then the scribes. Understanding that books outlast their authors endows them with power. This material persistence and information longevity trumps the creators. Thus, the meaning of the book although stamped by a woodblock press or scribbled by hand perseveres beyond the milieu in which it was written.
Authors and books are not blameless. The idea that books have power is hidden. The power of books lay dormant in our subconscious. We prefer not to know about it. No parent or teacher says, "Do not say anything negative about books!" No, we assume as book lovers that books are wonderful. Of course, some are better than others, but overall, books are good. And even those who don't think about books at all assume that books are benign. They are just inanimate objects no more important than a doorstop or a brick. Perhaps not. How could we object to the knowledge, and reading experiences we value? It is like spurning a lover, rejecting our children, or ignoring our family. It is heartbreaking. Dare we say it?


The Lessons We Learn

When we consider history, the most evil are not always those that promote immoral acts, political upheaval, or insult our cherished traditions. Ironically, the most dangerous books are sacred texts like the Bible. Religious tomes and the spiritual baggage surrounding them like a tarnished halo have caused more wars, rebellions, civil wars, invasions, genocides, familial strife, and any other bad news you could name. Why is that? Why do our most cherished books cause so much pain? Why do those hoary, thick, carried about with reverence, handed down generation after generation, sworn on by witnesses, referenced by patriarchs, revered by millions, printed by the billion year after year to where they take up more real estate than some little nations, why are they so dangerous?

A few thousand years has a way of altering the physical and social life on planet earth. The worldview of writers thousands of years ago is alien to most of us. Decades pass and reality changes. Certainly, we do have traits, conditions, and human concerns that span the millennia. We are still people who love, fear, hate, and hope. However, some of us still believe whatever it is we read. Some of us have complete faith in words written down in particular books. We read and believe what is in the book because the book tells us that it is the utter truth. The book says that if we do not believe it, if we do not obey its commands, we are doomed. The book says that other people who do not read the book are doomed. The misguided ones who do not obey the book are to be pitied and feared. They are impure, corrupt, unclean, and dangerous. They must obey the book. We must make them obey the book because the book says they must obey the book. We are doomed if we do not make them obey the book. If we lack faith in the book’s commands then we are doomed. Thus, we obey the book and we make them obey. Thank you, apostles, priests, popes, ministers, ayatollahs, fathers, padres, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals. Thank you for the Crusades of the Middle Ages. Thank you for the Spanish Inquisition. Thank you for the witch burnings in 17th century colonial America. Thank you Bible. Thank you Mein Kamph for millions of Jews, Poles, gypsies, and other undesirables gassed and cremated by Adolf Hitler. Thank you for helping to get World War II started by being a bestseller in 1940 Germany.
Thank you Little Red Book, and China’s Cultural Revolution, concentration camps, education camps, work camps, famine, disease and millions dead. Thank you for the villages burned by Mao’s marching troops holding the book in one hand with a torch in the other.

The Power of Books and Their Authors

Books have more power over us than we assume. The act of reading is a communion with the author, and to the unwary an opening of doors to a dangerous terrain—our subconscious and its mysterious and unpredictable ways. Thus, that which we love more than many who walk on two legs or four; adore like gods or goddesses; desire as lovers, hunger for as if we are starved; that which brings meaning into our lives wears the two faces of Janus. Books can be the vehicle of great good or terrible wars. We are lifted up or enslaved by our creations and so must be aware of what we read influences us. Books can get behind our guard and work subtle changes in our mind. Books can be viral, infecting those who read them, and spreading to other readers. Usually we ignore our weakness. We do not voice our concern because it may result in an over reaction. We only have to remember that every year in the USA citizens educated from childhood in democratic ideals, and personal freedom, decide to burn books. Fortunately, we have a lot more than they destroy, but it makes us pause and wonder why are people disturbed by books?


Books as Art, Craft, and Asset

We discuss our relationship with books as literature in glowing prose. Critics may disparage an author but not the book as an object. However, book collectors and some booksellers will discuss the condition of a book’s physical traits as an object d'art. The story could be a minor issue (pardon the pun). What fascinates book collectors and dealers is the provenance of a book. Many column inches are devoted to discussion of whether or not a volume is a true first edition hardcover. Arguments may occur due to a disagreement on what is on the title page. Experts expound on the dates of issue, the colors, and design of the cover, where and when it was printed. Did it have several printings even though it was still a first edition? Dialog about books can therefore be from multiple perspectives. There is the literary content or story in fiction. We also have another kind of content in factual material but like fiction it is the communication we receive from a book.
Then there are the physical characteristics of a book:
• Is it hard or soft cover
• How many pages is it
• What is the year of issue
• Is it a first edition
• Was there more than one printing
• Who is the publisher
• What is the quality of the binding and paper
• How many books were printed
• Is the book the first book ever published by an author
• What is the history of a book’s ownership

And it goes beyond this list to other arcane facts about books. There is a whole industry of books on books. Publishers crank out new material every year on the changing market for booksellers, buyers, collectors, and restorers. From this artistic and financial aspect of books comes the view of books as assets. By having a dollar value, books can appreciate or depreciate depending on the market. Books are like fine art. They can be investments with an expected return. This money angle leads to another twist on book buying and what happens when we buy books. Many book people buy books and never intend to read them. Books are loved, cared for, and examined, but not always read. Book collectors treasure books. The operative term is treasure and those with the book bug know what that means.

Book Desire
Another danger book people must face is greed. Fascination with books has led people from bibilophilia (book love) to bibliomania (book frenzy). Bibliomania afflicts us in many ways and is understood as an illness placed on a spectrum of severity. In extreme cases, we have people like Stephen Blumberg who over years of book theft "collected" an estimated $20 million dollars worth of rare books and kept them in his home outside of Ottumwa, Iowa. Author Nicholas Basbanes in A Gentle Madness reported on this case of book lust that spanned decades of theft. Basbanes interviewed the Blumberg who felt he was rescuing books from ignorant masses and protecting them for prosperity. He “rescued” them from 268 libraries across the USA and Canada. Nineteen tons of books squirreled away in a large Victorian house in the middle of Iowa cornfields. Unlike some "bilbioklepts" he didn't steal the books for profit. He rationalized his thievery as saving the best for humanity. His is an extreme case. Most of us do not sink to this level of book greed, but who has not found themselves in a bookstore browsing the shelves and finding many more books than they could read?

Book buying is another danger. Bibliophiles usually buy books but this is a danger too. It can escalate if one doesn't exercise restraint. It is easier to exhaust our checking account than to throw caution away and steal like poor mister Blumberg. It is a risky business to go into a bookstore with a positive bank balance. It is a sure way to drain any buffer of financial comfort down to where we are eating peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and Top Ramen for dinner. It makes for a spartan diet. Meanwhile, the bookshelf looks full and may be overflowing with books we don't have time to read. This is bibilophilia verging on bibliomania. The first is more or less controlled and doesn't endanger the health of the book lover. The second is not controlled and takes over the life of the afflicted. Bibliomaniacs like Stephen Blumberg can rationalize their illness as a benefit and not a disease.

Books, Authors, and Us

In Passion for Books by Rabinowitz and Kaplan we can read entertaining articles about our love of books, and are treated to this metaphor: “‘A man's library is a sort of harem.’” (Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life (1860), "In Praise of Books”).

I don’t know what Mr. Emerson knows about harems. It would seem that harems would be much more expensive than our humble library. However, I do understand why he would express this dated sentiment. If we think as a man of his time, having beautiful women to admire and keep for
our self is akin to the possessiveness we feel about our favorite books. We keep them away from casual eyes; hide them in the study or bedroom so no one will ask to borrow them; save them only for our bedtime story. These special books are like someone we love. We don’t want anyone else to experience the intimacy we enjoy. They are ours. Women feel the same way about their books and their boyfriends. A woman can understand Emerson by simply changing the sex of those in the harem, or stable. She then might agree with him about possession concerning special books and favorite men.

Book and Buyer, Author and Reader

When we buy books, we also agree to merge with the author. It is an act of trust, an engagement of hearts and minds. We voluntarily drop our guard a little and enter the author’s world. As this happens, the author enters our inner world too. We are joined together. The act of buying requires seeking, wanting, and agreeing to become someone other than we are as we read. A book we buy may outlive both the author and the reader. Its message, story, and value may persist through the generations. Buying a book changes us more than we are aware, it is a magical experience.