I’ve been on a decluttering campaign around my house. It’s been a relatively easy task when focused on closets, cabinets and drawers. It gets difficult, though, when it comes to the bookshelves.
I’ve determined to weed out my book collection. I really do have far too many books and they are just gathering dust. The problem is that many of my books are quite dear to me. Some of them have been with me for years. Some of them I’ve read over and over, finding new wisdom and new pleasure with each reading. Those books are my friends, and I would as soon part with a few of my friends than with a few of those books.
While I’ve had some books for ages, the ones I really cherish are usually new. That’s because I keep recommending them to others, then lending them out, then finding I can’t live without them so I buy another copy. Just this morning I was looking for my paperback copy of Kurt Vonnegut’s tribute to anarchy, Cat’s Cradle, and couldn’t find it. I’m sure I pressed it on someone and urged them to read it. It’s definitely my favorite Vonnegut novel, with Slapstick coming in a close second. [That’s another tribute to anarchy. Is there a theme at work there?] Cat’s Cradle would definitely make my Top 100 list of all‑time favorite books. Probably even my Top 20.
I was looking for it so I could get a verbatim quote. When I didn’t find the book right away, I turned to the Internet for the quote. I did find it, or at least a segment of it, but that led me to realize one of the reasons I treasure books over other sources of information.
If I had the book in my hand, I would have spent some time looking for the quote I sought. I would have thumbed through the pages and got caught up in some of the poetry. I would have revisited, if only briefly, the wacky characters and wicked philosophy of that most perfect novel. I would have located the desired quote eventually and been able to choose for myself just how much of the text I wanted to extract, instead of settling for the snippet I found cited online. I may have spent an hour or more reacquainting myself with that delightful story and reliving the memory of my own vin‑dit*, but that would have been time richly spent, like encountering an old friend and chatting for an hour. The Internet will never offer such comfort and joy. Only a book can do that.
Happy reading to you all. I highly recommend Cat’s Cradle. And if I loaned you my copy, please return it. I miss it a lot.