the hundred-book rule
To see what's what, click picture to make big
There's a lot of talk around the place lately about books - getting rid of excess, or whether "more than a hundred" is "too many." I myself operate on a two-thousand-book rule, I think, and must spend my entire life juggling the exigencies of small-flat living with that horrible frustration when you want to look something up, or reread something, and suddenly have a vague recollection of giving it to a charity shop in 1998...
The ex-Mr B being a bookseller means that, even worse, there are books I probably gave him saying, "Are you going in a minute? You may as well have this to sell..." It was just too easy.
Anyway, as I said before, I would rather look at books than a bare wall any day, which is just as well! (And the rest of it is pictures, in any case. And while we're on the subject, who invented wood chip wallpaper in the first place?? The ugliest stuff in the known universe.)
I thought I might just give you something to look at today. This bookcase is the main poetry section, with paperback fiction behind it (and some hardback misc in the bottom shelf). The anthologies, memoirs and biographies, art books, Henry James section, and Fanny Burney are off to the right; the criticism is above my desk; Nonesuches, old Encounter magazines and little old cloth editions are on the other side of the room; short stories and hardback fiction in the hallway; cookery books, miscellaneous and old poetry magazines are in the hallway by the kitchen; and there's a box by the bath, with new stuff in it. Plus some heaps of things I'm currently working on, and a load of whatnot on the shelf under the coffee table. Plus there's a pretty little chair next to my desk with a bunch of stuff, a readers guide to Proustr and that biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine... and all the kids' books, including mine from when I was little, are in Mlle B's room.
6 comments:
You organise your books? Wow. A glance at one horizontally stacked pile in front of me, on a shelf that hasn't fallen down, reveals these authors thrown into some unlikely company: Austen, Defoe, Dr Johnson, de Sade, Donna Tartt, Sterne, C.E. Montague, Thackeray, Julian Barnes, Rumer Godden, Aristophanes, Elizabeth Beresford, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Edward Lear and Max Beerbohm.
Actually, looking at the beginning of that list, I think I may have put them in some sort of order at some point....
If the floor isn't visibly concave, you don't have too many books.
Is there a name for this syndrome? I think I suffer the same...as there seem to be a lot of crossovers. I've even learned the "two rows to a shelf trick" too, as my cabin is rather small. Have a great wekend.
Which are the ones you would palm off/ recommend particularly? (Or is this too vague a question?)
I used to alphabetise my books until I worked in a bookshop. These days, I need the chaos.
Quink, it does. And fab books, too.
RHE, it would be convex in my case, as I would stack them by the walls.
Fool, you too.
Katy, that depends on your taste! If you tell me three books you like (in this case, I assume, poets) I will give you some ideas what to go for. Trust me; I used to do this for a living.
Steerforth, I've always alphabetised. It was second nature even before my bookshop days, and to this day I will tidy books in bookshops if I see them out of order.
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