Loving our books to death
When my friend Ann Marie handed me her copy of "The Complete Works of John Steinbeck," she said, "It's OK if the cover falls off while you're reading it."
A quick inspection of the book showed why. There was a noticeable gap between the spine and the pages. Every time I opened it, little paper flakes fell into my lap. (The cover didn't fall all the way off as I read "Cannery Row," but it came pretty darn close.)
Coming from Ann Marie, this was no surprise. She worships the ground John Steinbeck walked on. I think she judges bookstores by their selection of Steinbeck novels.
I have a few books that I have loved to death in my time. I had to get new copies of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and the entire "Anne of Green Gables" series because the covers had come off just about every book.
I have at various times owned four distinct copies of "Pride and Prejudice." To be fair, I lost the first one when my backpack was stolen. So of course I had to buy a second one. Then, my mom bought me a boxed set of Jane Austen works. And last year, I discovered "The Annotated Pride and Prejudice," which might have been one of the highlights of 2007 for me. Someday, I will probably love the cover off of that one too.
I try to take good care of my books, but I consider a well-worn book a loved, old friend. What are some of the most worn "friends" on your bookshelf?
Apr 29, 2008 at 9:20 a.m.
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Simon de Beauvoir's Chicago paramour, Nelson Algren, is worth reading too. Especially his: The Man With The Golden Arm
Apr 29, 2008 at 8:33 a.m.
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Hemmingway, Steinbeck, Simon de Beauvoir, and...my copy of "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". It was borrowed to a friend who went to Germany and, while touring a winery, it accidentally fell into an open vat of red wine! The well-traveled book was fished out of the wine and then air dried. It's horribly ironic that a book about Native Americans that were once ethnically-slurred as "Redskins" now has red (actually very, very dark pink) pages! Also...very much loved and used Dick and Jane books retrieved when a school district abandoned them in the early 1960s.
Apr 29, 2008 at 8:04 a.m.
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My dictionary lost its covers. Which, I think, makes me a total nerd.
Apr 28, 2008 at 7:15 p.m.
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Dickens' "Christmas Carol" --- I read it at least once a year and enjoy even more learning tidbits about what Dickens went through getting it into print. Of course, I treasure greatly one Golden book that I read night after night as a young child ... "Dennis the Menace Waits for Santa Claus".
Apr 28, 2008 at 7:04 p.m.
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There was something about stealing books in Saul Bellows' The Adventures of Augie March.
Apr 28, 2008 at 6:27 p.m.
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Ha!! That poor book.
A former pet rabbit contributed a lot to the torn up spine.
I think I stole that book from my mom's bookshelf at one point. That's funny, because in "East of Eden," a character talks about how the only right way to get a book is to steal it from a friend.
I have some O'Henry and J.D. Salinger paperbacks that are in pretty tough shape, too.
Apr 28, 2008 at 5:41 p.m.
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I am on my second set of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and I am rapidly having to replace my Tom Clancy books for a second and third time. The Tom Clancy books were really too big to be paperbacks, which is why they fell apart so easily.
Apr 28, 2008 at 5:40 p.m.
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Pride and Prejudice pages sit separately from the paperback cover as does The Stranger by Camus. I can't stand to think of replacing either one as all my thoughts and interpretations of the text are written in the margins (different colored inks from different readings throughout two decades)and favorite/memorable lines are underlined...how interesting to see my changing perspectives and insights on the same piece of literature as I have matured and changed!
Apr 28, 2008 at 4:37 p.m.
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It's not that I don't *love* my Harry Potters... I am simply very greedy with them.
While I read them hungrily, I store them behind an electric fence so no one else touches them.
Apr 28, 2008 at 8:31 a.m.
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Many an ancient tome
will someday die <br>
But I've found that duct tape
Keeps 'em spry
Apr 28, 2008 at 8:19 a.m.
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I am on my third set of Tolkien's LOTR series. The others eventually just fell apart from being read over and over and over and...
I also have a few Robert Heinlein novels that I have to read sitting up or the pages will fall out.
Then there are my "well-loved" history books. I try to be extra careful with them because a few are out of print.
And, oddly enough, the spine on the thesaurus that sits on my desk at work is coming loose.
Apr 28, 2008 at 5:45 a.m.
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My copy of Stephen King's IT split into halves years ago. It's a paperback, like most of my books and I haven't bothered to replace it yet. Right now I have it taped together and it's held up so far... but I really should invest in a new book. Preferably hard cover.
Christine and Carrie are about to be replaced, too.
I'm also well on the way of splitting the spine and dog-earing the pages of Time Cockey's The Hearse You Came In On. His Hitchcock Sewell mysteries are a new favorite of mine.
My books may look like a hot mess after a while... but that only means I love them a lot. My Harry Potter hardcovers are getting crunched on the corners and some of the pages of Deathly Hallows have smudges on the pages from reading it at work... but again, that's me showing love!
Apr 27, 2008 at 10:19 p.m.
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Just read Sweet Thursday. Anyone who's read Cannery Row should enjoy it, it's a sequel.
Also just reread Travels With Charley. Amazing feeling from simplicity.
Apr 27, 2008 at 9:44 p.m.
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My favorite, and worn book? My Bible.... Nourishing my soul!
Apr 27, 2008 at 12:24 p.m.
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When Rose Stricker brings her Harry Potter books to work, they are in pristine condition. Mine look like they've been thrown down several flights of stairs.
Also, my Chaim Potok books are a little worse for wear.
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