For a reminder about the importance of reading books, we can refer to Fahrenheit 451. The books at that time were so precious that individuals memorized whole books.
I feel constantly pulled between the desire to give away some of my books to be a bit less materialistic and the desire to have every available surface stacked with enough books that I could never finish them all.
Maybe there's a happy medium (constant cycle of collecting and giving away).
I have not yet found such a medium, despite my wife and daughters' near-constant goading to get rid of more and more of my 5,000+ book library. I live firmly in Umberto Eco's camp: the efficacy of a personal library lies not in whether one will read them all, but in the precious blood one will certainly need in the contentious future.
Don't conflate 'e-book' with 'corporate-controlled licensed (e.g. Amazon Kindle) book'
My wife and I love paper books, we have owned many thousands over the decades, and I have spent many many hours in libraries and bookstores of all sizes, so... it is safe to say I know from books.
But... ever since I had two successive retinal detachments in my right eye seven years ago, regular printed books have been difficult to make out, and I have been 100% e-book. I continue to read as much as I ever have.
If you don't want to be beholden to Amazon or Rakuten (Kobo), it is very easy to purchase e-book files directly from publishers (or in some cases from authors) in the EPUB format that everyone uses these days, download them to the storage and backup media of your choice, and load them into a wide variety of e-reader devices and applications for viewing.
And there's lots of public domain ebooks, too, available for free. Standard Ebooks, for example, takes public domain ebooks and programs them well to take advantage of the latest e-reader technologies, and makes them available for all e-reader devices (iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, etc.). And they have always refused to censor or alter anything (except for modernizing certain spelling and punctuation, which they are always up-front when they do so). They're always my go-to when I'm looking for any ebooks from the public domain, and they are always looking for volunteers to help them produce ebooks: https://standardebooks.org/
"The bookleggers smuggled books to the southwest desert and buried them there in kegs. The memorizers committed to rote memory entire volumes of history, sacred writings, literature, and science, in case some unfortunate book smuggler was caught, tortured, and forced to reveal the location of the kegs…
The project, aimed at saving a small remnant of human culture from the remnant of humanity who wanted it destroyed, was then underway."
Ruth thank you for sharing. It will be an interesting read. A few scholars have drawn conclusions about "woke left" and "woke right" and both lead to the same end—word policing. I quickly skimmed the article and am reminded that each time a nation declines, institutions of learning and information goes first. Surprisingly, this time we haven't noticed it.
Of course, books come about because of writers and publishers. If you aren’t supporter them, then you’ll have no new books. The old ones are great, of course, but we need to support those who create new books, as well.
I bought an old collection of Dahl's books just in case I have grandchildren. im collecting physical books for all the reasons you laid out. Im focussing on "classics".
I love how so many people in the comments are like "yeah books *are* great! But heres why i have to use the digital version.." And then ofc they are valid reasons. But isnt that how we ended up here? Yes it is cheaper and easier to use ebooks. Thats how they get us, by appealing to our laziness and thriftiness.
Personally i think if people desire to experience their lives through their screens, thats what they should do. To repurpose a line from aa, books dont need us, but we sure do need books. If thats not your bag, by all means keep suckling on the digital teet. And continue reaping the wonderful rewards everybodies so pleased with. No harm in that, right?
I will say this though. If real books are harder to get and more expensive, its bc they have more value. An ebook is a great way to pass some time, but a real book is an investment in your own life, and others as well. Its the difference between "me" and "us".
But you know, if youre just going to keep doing the same shit, stop expecting different results, and stop complaining about the results you do get. Make your CHOICE, and then own it, be it, bc that is in fact what you are doing. This whole i want my cake and to eat it too shit is childish. And fyi, the cake is actually a shit pie.
Also, the links to yt videos and shit? Come on lol. That shit right there is why nobody reads books. God forbid we put a little effort into life.. why bother, i can just watch the video!
I have far more books than I will ever be able to read - I am 70 - and I revel in that fact and love that I have choice and agency that no one can take away from me. I will continue to acquire books, the knowledge they bring and the joy they bring as long as I live.
Most people cannot afford to buy lots of hardbacks at list price.
You know, if you posted about public libraries (the ultimate "data centers") instead of constantly fulminating about AI, it would be great. Not least because rural public libraries have been in big trouble for decades - and due to massive funding cuts, it's getting steadily worse.
The ability to slam virtually every kind of digital whatever is an elitist thing. So is attacking a restaurant chain that a lot of ordinary people enjoy because it reminds them of where they grew up.
I have no time and less patience for the constant anti-AI posts. Ted, you are such a good writer when it comes to music. Maybe if you play to your strengths, I'd feel differently.
There's just no pleasing some people.
And FWIW, Anna Akhmatova was fortunate to survive long enough for Stalin to die and for Kruschev to become Party boss. She *survived* WWII and the Stalinist mass murders, famine (Ukraine), and the many purges. And gulags. She was never sent to one, and she was damn lucky. Her son... not so much.
Did she "triumph"? No, I don't believe that she did. She was able to live better under Kruschev, and her writing career wasn't *as strictly curtailed* as it was under Stalin, but she was still poor, like most Russians. She was as subject to chronic food (etc.) shortages as other Russians - the Party bosses excepted. She wasn't in good health and, like other Russians, really couldn't get the medical care she needed.
Like many in Russia who had undergone hunger and privation, she didn't get to live nearly as long as she might have in, say, the US or Canada.
And... I know. You'll probably ban me again. I honestly don't care, though I'll miss the good discussions I've had here.
I hope the AI bubble bursts. For many reasons. But I'd be lying if I claimed not to want to see you proven wrong about it all.
Anyway, we are descending into authoritarianism and you're boasting about your personal library.
I've been saying for a little while now that the best search engine out there is your local library. That can be amended with contributions to your own self curated library of course.
Wonderful piece! So jealous that you have Questioning Minds! I am a generation younger than you and for years, I’ve been collecting books (thousands!) in this paranoid fear we ate going to need to preserve something. I don’t feel so paranoid anymore.
Owning books is good, but for many there is a purchase price. Sharing your books is great. If there isn’t a little library in your neighborhood, set one up. Used bookstores are local business treasures that keep literature flowing. Find and support your local businesses. That includes new book bookstores. If we can it helps to buy full price books to support authors we love. Bookstores, used and new can be cultural hubs in our communities supporting book groups, author talks, and literacy campaigns. Finally, libraries, of course. Want 10s of thousands of volumes displayed beautifully with helpful folks ready to answer your questions or help you get a book they don’t have but you want to read, support your local library.
I just dropped off three and picked up one at my local library. I was speaking with a friend in Germany about my love of books and libraries. I asked her if she was familiar with the Bookmobile. She was. It saved me when I was away on vacation at the beach for a month as a kid.
The book is a huge advance technologically over a laptop:
* Has virtually infinite battery life
* Is extremely shock resistant - can withstand a drop of at least 10 feet onto a concrete floor
* Although not extremely water resistant, even after complete immersion the data can eventually be retrieved
* Fully Random-Access,with the ability to add notes
* High contrast display
* Inexpensive compared to a laptop
The only problem I have is that the type seems to be getting smaller. At least on Kindle you can change the type face and size.
For a reminder about the importance of reading books, we can refer to Fahrenheit 451. The books at that time were so precious that individuals memorized whole books.
I feel constantly pulled between the desire to give away some of my books to be a bit less materialistic and the desire to have every available surface stacked with enough books that I could never finish them all.
Maybe there's a happy medium (constant cycle of collecting and giving away).
I have not yet found such a medium, despite my wife and daughters' near-constant goading to get rid of more and more of my 5,000+ book library. I live firmly in Umberto Eco's camp: the efficacy of a personal library lies not in whether one will read them all, but in the precious blood one will certainly need in the contentious future.
Don't conflate 'e-book' with 'corporate-controlled licensed (e.g. Amazon Kindle) book'
My wife and I love paper books, we have owned many thousands over the decades, and I have spent many many hours in libraries and bookstores of all sizes, so... it is safe to say I know from books.
But... ever since I had two successive retinal detachments in my right eye seven years ago, regular printed books have been difficult to make out, and I have been 100% e-book. I continue to read as much as I ever have.
If you don't want to be beholden to Amazon or Rakuten (Kobo), it is very easy to purchase e-book files directly from publishers (or in some cases from authors) in the EPUB format that everyone uses these days, download them to the storage and backup media of your choice, and load them into a wide variety of e-reader devices and applications for viewing.
And I imagine your local library may have e-books to check out- try the main central library, but my library offers e-books ❤️📚
And there's lots of public domain ebooks, too, available for free. Standard Ebooks, for example, takes public domain ebooks and programs them well to take advantage of the latest e-reader technologies, and makes them available for all e-reader devices (iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, etc.). And they have always refused to censor or alter anything (except for modernizing certain spelling and punctuation, which they are always up-front when they do so). They're always my go-to when I'm looking for any ebooks from the public domain, and they are always looking for volunteers to help them produce ebooks: https://standardebooks.org/
Thank you for saying that!
So many books, so little time. 🤘😎🤘
Never try to argue with a man whose TV is larger than his bookshelf.
Reading as resistance.
Agreed! Booklegging is resistance and provides a solid data center that will last far beyond the digital. See "A Guide to Booklegging: How (and why) to collect, preserve, and read the printed word" https://schooloftheunconformed.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-booklegging-how-and-why
"The bookleggers smuggled books to the southwest desert and buried them there in kegs. The memorizers committed to rote memory entire volumes of history, sacred writings, literature, and science, in case some unfortunate book smuggler was caught, tortured, and forced to reveal the location of the kegs…
The project, aimed at saving a small remnant of human culture from the remnant of humanity who wanted it destroyed, was then underway."
from A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller
I love Canticle. More people need to read it.
Ruth thank you for sharing. It will be an interesting read. A few scholars have drawn conclusions about "woke left" and "woke right" and both lead to the same end—word policing. I quickly skimmed the article and am reminded that each time a nation declines, institutions of learning and information goes first. Surprisingly, this time we haven't noticed it.
VERY Cool!
Of course, books come about because of writers and publishers. If you aren’t supporter them, then you’ll have no new books. The old ones are great, of course, but we need to support those who create new books, as well.
I bought an old collection of Dahl's books just in case I have grandchildren. im collecting physical books for all the reasons you laid out. Im focussing on "classics".
I love how so many people in the comments are like "yeah books *are* great! But heres why i have to use the digital version.." And then ofc they are valid reasons. But isnt that how we ended up here? Yes it is cheaper and easier to use ebooks. Thats how they get us, by appealing to our laziness and thriftiness.
Personally i think if people desire to experience their lives through their screens, thats what they should do. To repurpose a line from aa, books dont need us, but we sure do need books. If thats not your bag, by all means keep suckling on the digital teet. And continue reaping the wonderful rewards everybodies so pleased with. No harm in that, right?
I will say this though. If real books are harder to get and more expensive, its bc they have more value. An ebook is a great way to pass some time, but a real book is an investment in your own life, and others as well. Its the difference between "me" and "us".
But you know, if youre just going to keep doing the same shit, stop expecting different results, and stop complaining about the results you do get. Make your CHOICE, and then own it, be it, bc that is in fact what you are doing. This whole i want my cake and to eat it too shit is childish. And fyi, the cake is actually a shit pie.
Also, the links to yt videos and shit? Come on lol. That shit right there is why nobody reads books. God forbid we put a little effort into life.. why bother, i can just watch the video!
I have far more books than I will ever be able to read - I am 70 - and I revel in that fact and love that I have choice and agency that no one can take away from me. I will continue to acquire books, the knowledge they bring and the joy they bring as long as I live.
Most people cannot afford to buy lots of hardbacks at list price.
You know, if you posted about public libraries (the ultimate "data centers") instead of constantly fulminating about AI, it would be great. Not least because rural public libraries have been in big trouble for decades - and due to massive funding cuts, it's getting steadily worse.
The ability to slam virtually every kind of digital whatever is an elitist thing. So is attacking a restaurant chain that a lot of ordinary people enjoy because it reminds them of where they grew up.
I have no time and less patience for the constant anti-AI posts. Ted, you are such a good writer when it comes to music. Maybe if you play to your strengths, I'd feel differently.
There's just no pleasing some people.
And FWIW, Anna Akhmatova was fortunate to survive long enough for Stalin to die and for Kruschev to become Party boss. She *survived* WWII and the Stalinist mass murders, famine (Ukraine), and the many purges. And gulags. She was never sent to one, and she was damn lucky. Her son... not so much.
Did she "triumph"? No, I don't believe that she did. She was able to live better under Kruschev, and her writing career wasn't *as strictly curtailed* as it was under Stalin, but she was still poor, like most Russians. She was as subject to chronic food (etc.) shortages as other Russians - the Party bosses excepted. She wasn't in good health and, like other Russians, really couldn't get the medical care she needed.
Like many in Russia who had undergone hunger and privation, she didn't get to live nearly as long as she might have in, say, the US or Canada.
And... I know. You'll probably ban me again. I honestly don't care, though I'll miss the good discussions I've had here.
I hope the AI bubble bursts. For many reasons. But I'd be lying if I claimed not to want to see you proven wrong about it all.
Anyway, we are descending into authoritarianism and you're boasting about your personal library.
Spare me, please.
I've been saying for a little while now that the best search engine out there is your local library. That can be amended with contributions to your own self curated library of course.
Avid reader who loves books!! I hope and pray you are correct!! May we be a people of the word!!
Wonderful piece! So jealous that you have Questioning Minds! I am a generation younger than you and for years, I’ve been collecting books (thousands!) in this paranoid fear we ate going to need to preserve something. I don’t feel so paranoid anymore.
Owning books is good, but for many there is a purchase price. Sharing your books is great. If there isn’t a little library in your neighborhood, set one up. Used bookstores are local business treasures that keep literature flowing. Find and support your local businesses. That includes new book bookstores. If we can it helps to buy full price books to support authors we love. Bookstores, used and new can be cultural hubs in our communities supporting book groups, author talks, and literacy campaigns. Finally, libraries, of course. Want 10s of thousands of volumes displayed beautifully with helpful folks ready to answer your questions or help you get a book they don’t have but you want to read, support your local library.
I just dropped off three and picked up one at my local library. I was speaking with a friend in Germany about my love of books and libraries. I asked her if she was familiar with the Bookmobile. She was. It saved me when I was away on vacation at the beach for a month as a kid.