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Once I met a girl whose library was formed of stolen books; mostly from libraries. I can say % 50 of the books were stolen. She was have quite rare books, i cant do it but i envy of some books.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterL
Well I dont tend to lend, but i have that oriental sickness; i cant say "no" easily. I remember I bought Shibumi three times, a few Borges three times, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by sofia82
I cannot belive one can steal from alibrary but there are people who are so skilled in this :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by tractatus
I have just this problem with one or two books. Although I lend two books to one of my colleagues and not seen him for 5 months, this week I will see him at the university and I'm going to ask him to return my books :DQuote:
Well I dont tend to lend, but i have that oriental sickness; i cant say "no" easily. I remember I bought Shibumi three times, a few Borges three times, etc.
I have been afflicted with the dreaded bibliophilia from when I first learned to read. From the time of my first job (paperboy) I have been shelling out far too much (or so others might suggest) cash upon books. When I was younger and struggling financially (actually... come to think of it, I'm still struggling... but you get the picture) I bought books as cheaply as possible at used book stores, flea markets, garage sales, and the like. I always preferred owning a book to borrowing it because my reading habits are such that I never knew what book I might want to jump forward or back to. I now own what most others consider to be a formidable number of books (some 3000+)... a small personal library... certainly better stocked in many areas than most public libraries... and yet I still cannot stop myself from entering the book stores at least once a week.
Personally, I think Anatole Broyard, in his marvelous little essay, Lending Books, gave the greatest description of my own feelings as a "book lover" about owning and lending books:
"... my friends come to me to borrow books because I have more than most people. In their innocence they have no idea what I go through in lending a book... Nor do they suspect that I feel about lending a book the way most fathers feel about their daughters living with a man out of wedlock... It's irritating to think that others consider reading a leisurely holiday activity. They enjoy a fling with books, while I'm married to them.
Not many of my friends are poor, and thus the question arises: If you truly wish to read this book... why don't you go out and buy it?... People often act as if books were mysteriously difficult to procure. To the doting book lover, the idea of reading a borrowed book is disgusting; an unclean habit akin to voyeurism.
The moment a book is lent, I begin to miss it. According to T.S. Eliot, each new book that is written alters every previous one. In the same way, each absent book alters those that remain on my shelves. The complexion of my library, the delicate gestalt, is ruined. My mind goes to the gap as one's tongue goes to a cavity... Until the book is returned, I feel like a parent waiting up in the small hours for a teenage son or daughter to come home from some dubious party..."
I only allow a trusted few to borrow my books. Some people are careless in the way the treat them and when they decide to return them.
Ha. Take my mother in law for example. I let her borrow mine and all my books come back with creases, stained pages, torn cover and at that point I usually just let her keep them. Going to the library in a small southern rural town and the books are in the same/worse condition. I buy but its a circle of destruction I can't escape.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joreads
What an obsession!! I just struggle with this obsession as it costs me a lot :D as soon as got millionar I yield to this obsession.Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
I always assume that a book I lend to someone will not be returned. If I'm still fine with that possibility I'll lend it out. Right now I have about 6 or 7 books lent out and I'd be surprised if half of them get returned to me. Most of these were books I have already read or ones I bought used. I only have one friend that I would lone a book I care about to, and that's only because I know where he lives!
I prefer to buy books, but I'm running out of space and money for it. So, lately I've had to do a little bit of both to keep up. :)
Buy - for the books I am sure I am going to care about. And they sometimes end up with a book-plate in them with That Quotation from Hamlet about borrowing and lending, so nobody ever asks.....
Borrow - for the books I am sure I'll read once and discard. I have one 'circulating library' going around a certain group of friends - I know the books will come back one day, after about a dozen people have read them. Another set gets passed on to friends as gifts - I know they will in turn be passed on to other friends and will end up in the Hospital Lending Library or Shop (which kept my husband going through his many stays in hospital) or in local Charity shops; those friends in turn pass on 'non-returnable' books to me and those too end up in the charity shops or passed on to friends. Just occasionally one of the non-returnables endears itself to me and finds a permanent place on my shelf.
i love collecting books. been doing it for about 2 years now (i am 19) and i have reread some of them, but some are, like Rogers_68 mentioned, conversation pieces. owning a book is like a memory to me so i enjoy buying them whenever i can. but for school research, the library is definitely the place i get books.
I have the sam problem now although my books are not so numerous :D I have to make all the four walls library and book shelf, It was last summer I bought one but now I need another. My mom says first think about where you want to put your books then buy a new one :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
What about his photos :D ?
Only used book stores for me. And amazon!