Friday, March 25, 2016

Bookish Discussion #2 // Bookish Aesthetics


In case you missed my first Bookish Discussion, let me just catch you up a little. On Wednesday, I referenced a video (which you can find here), that summed up of some attitudes in the bookish community that have been bothering me. Now, I do recommend that you watch the video to get both sides of the argument, because I don’t believe this BookTuber shouldn’t have said what she said or that she is dumb or anything like that. Of all the BookTubers who shared similar sentiments, hers is the politest, most intelligent representative. But the main point I want to address here, that was referenced in her video more nicely than it was in most other places, is the idea that BookTubers and book bloggers who are concerned with the aesthetics of their books are too looks-oriented. 

So, first of all, let’s talk about used books. Plenty of readers prefer used books over new books because they have character and because they have more story to them than their newer counterparts. They’ve been read, reread, annotated, dog-eared, stained, loved. To many readers, the lives these books experienced before reaching their hands is just as fascinating as the books themselves, and it makes those books treasures. They are valuable, like aged cheese. (Blogging rule #127: When in doubt, include a comparison to food.) Not only that, but used books are often cheaper. 

And you know what? I see nothing wrong with enjoying or even preferring secondhand books. If those bring you loads of happiness, then that is wonderful. But while I don’t hate used books, they don’t bring me loads of happiness, and there’s nothing wrong with that, either. 

When I was younger, I tried so hard to get into the mindset that it was foolish to pay more money for new books when you could simply buy used. After all, I didn’t have much money to work with in the first place. I tried to convince myself that it was stupid to care so much about whether or not the spine of a book was cracked or if the cover got creased. I got angry at myself for crying when I lent out my books only to have them come back worse for the wear—dirty, ratty, water-damaged—and I told myself it was silly to contemplate replacing them with my hard-earned money just so I could have new-looking copies again. I told myself it was selfish not to want to lend them out just because I didn’t like them getting damaged, and I told myself it wasn’t fair to ask people to be super careful with them. It wasn’t fair to get upset when they didn’t treat them as well as I did. I thought there was something wrong with me because damaged books took away the joy of reading. 

And then, after a few years, it hit me. That is my personality type. I was wired to keep a neat, orderly collection—to crave cleanness and newness. I was wired to love the beauty of a pristine book. I wasn’t wired to love well-worn paperbacks, and it wasn’t fair for people to ask me to change my own personal preferences simply because they didn’t understand or share them. Just because my books are in perfect condition, doesn’t make them any less loved. In fact, when I love a story, I show my respect and affection for it by taking care of the book. Just because I love my books differently than others doesn’t make my methods any less legitimate. 

So let’s break down the way my brain works, starting at the superficial and going deeper. 

To me, new books just look so much better. I get a rush of happiness when I see all the shiny, new books while shopping in Barnes & Noble, and I like getting that same rush from seeing my Barnes & Noble-esque bookshelves. 

I have found that the more effort I put into keeping the shelves in my room aesthetically pleasing, the more my room feels like a haven. Some people visit museums or art collections in order to center themselves and reduce tension. Well, my books are my own private art collection, and I treat them accordingly. Where some people might hang paintings, I display the books I find particularly attractive. They are my decorations, and to assume that the inside of a book is the only form of art involved is to miss the art of the exterior. I handle my books carefully, to make sure that the art I love doesn’t get destroyed or defaced. After all, you wouldn’t shove your favorite painting into your backpack, or touch it with greasy fingers, or fold it down the middle (at least, I hope you wouldn’t). I value books like I would value a Van Gogh, and so I treat them accordingly. And I bet it’s similar for other bookworms who prefer keeping their books in good condition. (However, if your preferred art form is a battered book, than that is your prerogative, and we can live in peace, provided we respect each other’s personal styles.) 

Another, very personal reason for keeping my books in good condition is this: A lot of traumatic things happened to me when I was a child, and often books were the only safe place my younger self could find. Sometimes the only control I had in my life was the way I treated my books. I might not have been able to prevent myself from losing my home, friends, and possessions twice, I might not have been able to keep my church body from ripping apart, and I might not have been able to stop all the other bad stuff from happening to me, but I could at least make sure bad stuff didn’t happen to my books. To this day, books are still my haven, and I like to keep my safe place untarnished. If you have not experienced a difficult childhood and needed a safe place of small control like that, I don’t fault you for not understanding where I’m coming from. But lack of comprehension doesn’t make it okay to judge. 

My last major reason for taking good care of my books is more on the practical side. Let’s face it, books cost money (I know, I was shocked to learn that, too). There are so many books out there that I would love to buy, but I only have so much money to spend on them. I would rather not burn through cash replacing books I’ve worn out. Instead, I would rather make sure the copies I have last for a good long while so I can focus on growing my personal library. 

In the end, it all boils down to individual preference, and neither choice of style is wrong. It’s not wrong to like pretty things, and it’s not wrong to not care as much about pretty things. Granted, yes, some people take it too far and focus so much on the exterior of their books that they forget why books are valuable in the first place. But I would recommend withholding judgment until you truly know a person, or you run the danger of focusing too much on that person’s exterior (their outward behavior) and too little on their heart. And wouldn’t it be nice if we could just all respect and appreciate each other for our differences, even if we don’t understand life on the others side of the fence? 


What about you, my little coffee beans? Are you cool with lending out your books? Have you had any bad experiences from lending out books in the past? Do you prefer used books or new? Are you extra careful with your papery darlings, or do you not mind if they get roughed up a little?

12 comments:

  1. I don't really lend out books, unless I really trust someone because I want my collection to look nice as well. My mother used to make me lend books to my sister and she would always return then with bent corners, or I would find them on the floor, and no one understood why I would get upset.

    I buy used books, and I'm not ashamed of that. But I don't buy books that are falling apart, even if it means someone really loved them. To me, if you love a book, you take care of it. You want it to look nice. Because of that, I tend to buy books I really love (Throne of Glass, for example) in new copies.

    But hey, that's just me. And I wish we would just respect each other and express our love books how we would like to (without hurting them). So yeah :)

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    1. Same. I get so angry when I encounter that attitude of "books are meant to be shared--you're being selfish if you don't share your books." Like, no, they're mine. I payed for them with my money, or they were given as a gift to me. If other people want to read those books, they will find that the library probably has them, and the library actively lends out its books and is fine if they get dinged up a little. I am not a library. I am a private collection. Back off or I will break you.

      :P As you can tell, I feel very strongly about this.

      I'm exactly the same. It's not the end of the world if my only option is a used book with a slightly dinged cover, but I reach a point where I have to decide whether I think the copy is worth the money I'm paying or not.

      *nods* I wish bookworms had more respect for each other's individual tastes.

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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  2. I'm personally okay with books that are a little beat-up, but I have my limits. If the condition of the book interferes with reading it, I get a new copy. (Or a better condition used copy.) That means no overly bent pages, no annotations beyond a bit of underlining, and ABSOLUTELY NO books that are falling apart.

    I definitely get why some people love pristine books, and why some people don't really care. I'm just somewhere in the middle with this one.

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    1. If I'm buying them second hand, then I'm the same. (But if my new books get a little beat up, that's a whole different story.) Books with destroyed spines bother me so much. If the pages are falling out, and the copy has no sentimental value, I'm not going to spend money on it. I would rather buy something that will last a good long time through multiple readings so I don't have to spend more money down the road for another copy of the same book.

      And that is totally cool. *nods*

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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  3. I can totally understand why this is an issue meaningful to you but for me... *shrugs* I guess I never thought about it before? If you live in my area, sure, read my books, bring them back when you're done. And while I prefer books in the not-falling apart condition when I get them, I beat them up all the time... I think it was earlier this month that one of my books had the cover ripped off and it was another adventure of SCOTCH TAPE TO THE RESCUE! But also I am pretty sure the copy of that book was from the 1960s so it will probably do more dying in the future. But yeah. I do like used books, at least for school, which is the only reason I buy books at the moment. They are cheap. People have written smart things in them and I can steal that genius. Their spines are already broken so they're easier to read.

    Although I will remind myself that if I do decide to buy a book it's usually a book that is just coming out because I am confident it will already rock (I must have a lot of confidence, understand) and in those cases the books are new on account of you cannot buy preorders off of people.

    Nope.

    Still. I think it's interesting that keeping books tidy is a matter of life control for you. Maybe a metaphor for our complete lack of control as we hurdle towards certain doom.

    I know, I'm a ray of sunshine. *throws glitter everywhere* That's why I exist.

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    1. And hey, there's absolutely no shame in not being bothered by the condition of your books. It's great to be able to fix a book with tape and not be bothered by it (although I will probably never know that feeling). (But yeah, old books can be so breakable, which is another reason why I prefer buying new.) And smart things you can benefit from is certainly a plus side to buying used. I think one of the only instances where I actually didn't mind annotation was when my mom inadvertently purchased a copy of The Clouds by Aristophanes, and it was full of amusingly snarky, slightly inappropriate comments. But mindless, meaningless annotation bothers me. I read a teacher's copy of Of Mice and Men and it bugged me because whole portions would be underlined and highlighted and the only only comments would be like, "metaphor" and "foreshadowing". Like, cool, I already knew that. We all knew that. If you are reading Of Mice and Men, you should be old enough to know that without needing to mark it down with no additional commentary. *rant over* :P

      Confidence is essential when it comes to book buying. I typically get a sinking feeling after making a book order, because while I am excited, I also end up worrying whether I bought the wrong books, and whether I will regret all my life choices. Well, I mean, you can buy ARCs off people, but it's unethical, so.... :P

      It certainly could be that. I think why I bristle so much when someone knocks my need for control is because they are essentially saying that the small control I do have is unimportant and that they feel they should control, with their opinions, one of the only areas where I have control.

      *gets covered in glitter* *is never able to get rid of it all* Hey, you're a valuable member of the blogging community, and your opinions, negative or positive, are important. *nods*

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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  4. Yes, I totally agree with you. I don't mind having books that are older and worn-out (I bought my Hunger Games trilogy for $6 - for the whole trilogy - and I'm terribly pleased with myself, even if they've been used quite a bit) but I like to keep them in the same/similar condition to how I received them. If they are old and worn-out, that is alright. But I wouldn't want their condition to deteriorate any further.

    TOUCH MY BOOKS AND YOU DIE. The end.

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    1. It can be quite satisfying to buy more books for less, even if you have the trade off of getting used instead of new. (Also, congrats on your acquisition!) I'm the same with used books--I will make peace with the damage already done, but I will not contribute to further damage.

      *touches your books*

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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  5. I kind of like both? New, pristine, and shiny books. And then the battered and nostalgic feel (and smell) of secondhand books. To me, secondhand books have a history behind them. Who are the people who've read it? What where their lives like? What places has this book been? Such things. I think that about most old things though, not just books.

    I do appreciate and treasure books that are new also. I might make notes in them aside from that I try to keep a new book in good condition. I'm probably not as meticulous as you though.

    I lent a paperback to my family for reading aloud. I've seen it buried under mail, sitting cover-crumpled with stacks of video games, and idling forgotten in a dark corner of a book case. They really rumpled the pages and the paper cover is creased and it BREAKS MY HEART! I love that book. Also, when I lent my Dad Divergent. Do you know what he did? He FOLDED THE PAPER COVER OVER ON ITSELF! Sure, it's easier to hold, but really? When I politely asked him (because I try not to blow up at my dad) not to do that. He just gave me this funny look like, "What? There's nothing wrong with halving a book like this?" Sheesh.

    So yes, I see where you're coming from. It also makes sense that you would find order and protection in books growing up.

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    1. I think it's really cool that you're able to really enjoy both. *nods* *applauds you*

      :P No shame if you aren't. Everyone has their own comfort zone for how they treat their new books, and I am okay with that.

      It really bothers me, though, when someone borrows a book and then doesn't treat it like it's important. I mean, if the person lending it is okay if it gets run over by a truck and washed in the laundry, then by all means, do what you want. But I think it says a lot about a person when they don't treat another person's stuff with respect. I got the same response from my dad when I politely asked him to not bend back the cover of my book (only, in my case, he was bending back the the hardcover, which, why?????) But yeah, I have had a friend do that with one of my paperbacks, right in front of me, and then she looked at me sheepishly and sort of closed it and smoothed and gave it back to me.

      I'm glad you understand. :P

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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  6. This is another great discussion. I prefer my books as nice as I can keep them. Sometimes they get some wear and tear when I'm traveling, but I don't dog ear or highlight them unless they're non-fiction. I like to mark up non-fiction for some reason. But fiction nope nope nope.

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you! :) Mine do get a little wear and tear too, when I carry them around with me, but I try to get creative to minimize the danger. And as long as it's extremely minimal, I am usually okay with it. But not really. :P I am actually okay, in selection circumstances, with underlining parts of used classics, for whatever reason. But all else, nope nope nope as well. :P

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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