This was spawned from my previous question.
Do you prefer old or new? Pristine or creased?
I'm talking about books and spines.
Himself is so careful when he gets a new book not to crease the spine. I don't delibereatly set out to crease a spine but I don't mind if it happens. I think that there is something about a creased spine. It shows that the book has been read - prossibly more than once and hopefully enjoyed. I think that a crease or two gives a book a bit of character (a bit like a face.)
I also like an old book - again I think that it's something about character. There's something about the way that books used to be bound.
How cool would it be if in 50 odd years or longer someone was holding an eary edition of one of my books in their hands? That's always assuming that we still have books then.
Now there's another question.
3 comments:
This brought back memories of persuading my mum to buy books as birthday presents for my friends. I would always - carefully - read the book before it was wrapped up. I can still remember the skill needed to read the pages while they were at a very acute angle to each other!
I never admitted to my friends that I had read their present but they must have suspected due to my excellent knowledge of the plot!
I'm a bit of a book-batterer myself, as I often carry them around in a soft knapsack. Having said that, I do try to look after them as much as possible, given the limitations of reason. For example, it annoys me when readers don't open a book wide enough to read comfortably, just to preserve the spine. I buy books to read them, not to collect them.
I believe that paper books will be with us for quite some time. E-books and the like are advancing, but I think they're still far behind the practicality, content-to-weight ratio, visual contrast and clarity of a paper book.
Clever girl Sky Blue. Fiendishly clever.
I think I'm in your camp Captain. I get a book to read too. I think that reading is supposed to be an enjoyable experience and I don't think that I could do that if I was worrying about creasing the spine.
I'm still thinking about what you did Sky Blue and have to say I am very impressed.
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