Book Cruelty

[junkmonkey]

May 20, 2012 21:22:58 GMT jamesdoig said:

I've saved many a book that way too - PVA is your friend.

"PVA Goooood! PVA friend....."

I've currently got a 189X Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable in pieces all over my kitchen table. Book purist would probably lynch me but it cost me a quid in a church hall sale and I want to be able to use the thing without having to pick the cover up off the floor every time.

And I hate what kids do to books too. Somewhere in my shelves I have a copy of the original edition of Lewis Carol's Hunting of the Snark with illustrations by Mervyn Peake. Several of them tastefully scribbled on in a variety of interesting crayons.

[valdemar]

I was taught by both my parents that damaging books was tantamount to being a mortal sin [although not in so many words, as my parents were, as I have mentioned elsewhere, rather progressive, and not religious in any way, shape or form]. Anyone who wrote in books was not a civilized person, to them, and I still think that way. Girlfriends have commented that I treat books better than people, which might be taking it a tad too far, but I see what they mean. Books are a physical manifestation of knowledge, and are to be treated with respect [except those ghost-written by some fly by night 'celebrity' - they can be pulped to make proper, readable books]. I always feel very uncomfortable if I go in to someone's house and there are no books visible anywhere - yes, such people do exist, I've seen them. There are people I know that I will not lend books to, as I know that they [my books] will get their backs broken. I used to be a school librarian, and spent a lot of time attempting to get marks off pages, rips repaired etc. The only time I didn't get cross with a bit of book cruelty was when I found a rather stuffy art book that had lots of tipped in colour plates in it. These were forever coming loose, and dropping out of the book. Muggins here was constantly reattaching them to the volume. One illustration depicted WW1 fighter 'planes dogfighting, entitled:'A Battle In The Skies'. It was a great picture, and was contender for the 'Most likely to get nicked' plate. One day, of course, this happened, and the plate was gone, leaving a pristine rectangle, still bearing the legend:'A Battle In The Skies'. Not that pristine, however; the thief had filled it with fluffy biro clouds, amongst which two stick-men with knight's helmets and swords, were knocking seven bells out of each other, one saying: ''Back, you blackguard!'', and the other saying:''Have at you, varlet!'' I laughed until I cried, and left it as it was. Everyone I showed it to after that considered it a work of genius.
Books deserve respect. Look after them. ;D