Remembering the (almost) forgotten days of the book

Just give it time.

I hate to admit it, but the internet and digital media are simply better at disseminating information than books could ever be. I am lucky in that I still have a reason to enjoy the smell of a book every now and again, since information pertaining to some of my interests isn't widely available digitally. Some of my best memories are of reading books (I know it's sad, but I was sheltered as a child), but I doubt I'd be doing nearly as much reading lately if not for the internet... I just don't have the space or the money to support the habit, and we don't have much of a library around these parts.

That's something else I don't see sticking around for much longer, the library. I think even years ago when I last had a library card, my local library was having trouble. I don't even want to think about what they're facing now.

 

It finally happened for me the other day. I was reading an actual book and I put it down to read the same book on my iPad. It was just more convenient for me to read it electronically. It was a sad day, but I won't miss physical books the next time I move.

 

I haven't made the leap into digital reading simply because I might only get to enjoy 5 or 6 books a year. I read cheap, so covering the cost of an e-reader would take a lot of books/time to pay for the convenience. That said, part of the reason I don't read more has to do with the fact that buying books is slightly inconvenient. Borders went out of business in my neck of the woods, and it was the closest place to browse. Amazon is nice, but sometimes I just want to look through a collection of spines and see what strikes me. Being able to download a book in a minute does sound nice though. I might be more apt to read if it were near instant gratification.

I love going to old book stores simply for the smell. How many tomes will soon be forgotten simply because they were not profitable to upload?

 

Getting the book instantly and not paying shipping is what put me over the top. There are 1000's of free books out there from multiple sources. Almost anything that has expired copyright is available for free.

 

It might be better to say that anything with an expired copyright is potentially available for free. Someone needs to take the time to transcribe the work first, and I think (as Steely said) a lot of works may be lost if no one will take the time to convert them to digital format (still a time consuming process, if I'm not mistaken). Even with text recognition (which may not be a viable solution in every case), someone would still have to proof-read to insure the copy is accurate.

That might, however, be a good excuse to read some books, for anyone that's a proficient typist. Here might be a good place to start: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Category:Volunteering.

 

I enjoy reading digitally too, for the reason cited that it is easier to get access, faster, and if i don't like it I don't have a book sitting around that I don't want to read. overall I much prefer physical books and am always buying more. I'm not a prolific reader just because i don't read very fast and don't have a lot of time. When I am able to I prefer the feel of the paper, the weight of the book, being able to see all the spines and yank one out as the mood strikes.

i think though that I might end up getting a fancy reader thing, or an ipad (so i can play angry birds too) it just suits my reading style. I have a back problem and so when not at work or doing something i spend a lot of time flat, which is always a problem when reading because of lighting and my arms getting tired after a while. it makes me sad just thinking about it. I have always loved having shelves of books, but am now thinking about what it would be like to not have so much space taken by them. For probably 20 years I've dreamed of having a house with a dedicated library. maybe I'll have to change that to faux bookshelf walls, a nice fake fireplace, and a kindle.

Red

 

The space issue is about the only disadvantage to ol' fashioned books for me. Well, and I suppose physical wear might be an issue for frequently perused, aged volumes. Okay, so there might be more drawbacks than I initially stated... still, I think there will always be a place for actual books in my home, even if I'm not exactly a voracious reader.

Ahh, good ol' Project Gutenberg! If (when?) I make the leap to an e-reader, you can bet I'll be heading over there to scour their archives!

As an aside, PG has an equivalent on the audio books front, called librivox.org

 

The City of David in Jerusalem, bookshelves projected in celebration of book week.

There is a lot of reading available online and if it isn't formatted for ebook readers you can use http://calibre-ebook.com/ to convert it.
Also: http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/004740.php
Also: http://www.jpost.com/Business/BusinessFeatures/Article.aspx?id=185726

http://www.bartleby.com/
http://www.baen.com/
http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Free Amazon Kindle E-Books
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_lin...d_t=101&pf_rd_p=1277195442&pf_rd_i=1286228011

Amazon Kindle E-Books
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Books/b/ref=sa_menu_kbo3?ie=UTF8&node=1286228011

 

Anyone who has tried to repair an old leather-bound book will instantly understand where Indy is coming from. As an ex-apprentice bookbinder, I can tell you that leather and paper were not a match made in heaven. The acrylic-coated buckram used in modern library binding is one of the unsung great inventions of the 20th century.

Our descendants will lose things of great value with the demise of the paper book, but not every legacy is worth handing down, and I won't be sorry to see the giant reference books crumble into dust. Look up something in the 11th edition Encyclopaedia Britannica http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/ (other places too) and you will see what I mean.

 

I envy you.

I admit I've moved into the modern era of 'virtual books,' but only reluctantly. I still love the feel of a fine leather binding in my hand.

 

I was seduced by the dark side and bought a kindle. Having used it for a while I find that I still prefer the quaint pleasures of turning over paper pages in old-fashioned books, at least for now. The only place I prefer my kindle is when I am taking a dump - easier to carry the kindle than an armful of novels.

 

As fate would have it, my work phone crapped out on me today. I was due for an upgrade so I opted to trade in my Blackberry Storm for a Droid...somethingerother. In addition to being faster and more whiz bang, the Droid has a much larger screen meaning that downloading the Kindle app was too tempting to pass up.

I'm reading a cheap zombie novel on it right now. Certainly not as enjoyable as turning pages. I mean, half the fun is looking down at a 500 page book and realizing that you were so engrossed in the story that you have nearly finished it in a day's time. That said, I'm going on vacation next month with my wife, daughter, and mother in law. Having access to a good book at the drop of a hat might come in handy during the drive.

 

Thirty years ago, someone gave me a 9th edition Brtannica. Every volume was mildewed and all you can do at that point is burn 'em or bury 'em, but I wanted to examine it at leisure before it went into the dumpster. It was the most robust set of books I ever handled, a unique combination of humanist learning and weight training.

The old Brtannica's stroke of genius was recruiting specialist experts to write its articles. Intellectual specialization was a new idea in the 18th century. The 9th edition's 24 volumes + index volume were published between 1875 and 1889 at a subscription price of one guinea per volume, which is about $3 thousand in our money. It was a monument to Victorian scholarship of British origin — old EB wasn't interested in bloody foreigners and their crackpot ideas.

Scholar's edition? It should be called the last edition. The original Britannica succumbed to the 19th century and the cheap, mass-produced book: American pirated editions were the last nails in its coffin. Of course the name lives on today, and much of its content was recycled until 1939.

EB was acquired by American vulture capitalists along with the bankrupt London Times. The resulting 10th edition reprinted the original 24 volumes plus an 11 volume supplement to bring it up to date: in other words it was a cheap edition, and the first mass market mail-order edition in publishing history. It was advertised as a new edition, and customers got really pissed off when they found it had articles written before the Civil War. I have read some of their letters. Of course they were Chesterfields compared to the folks I dealt with at Britannica in 1977. I received a letter from Leon Uris, who really should have known better: he returned an invoice for the Book of the Year decorated by a huge rubber stamp that printed BULLSHIT in letters six inches high. Of course it was bullshit, but I digress . . .

After that fiasco, the new owners had to do the thing right or quit the business and their investment. For the 11th edition, new articles were solicited from scholars all over the world, not just from the British Isles. The 9th edition's articles were retained whenever possible, but edited and rewritten by the non-tenured faculty of Cambridge University and the staff writers of The Times. Most of us think it was the best Britannica ever. But it is not the nicest set of books to own.

Next to the Brobdingnagian 9th edition, the 11th edition is svelte and petite. Printed in 9 point type on India paper to be carried to the farthest reaches of the Empire, it is quite readable in good light (you need a magnifier for the maps). Its flexible leather covers were its undoing. They were the miserable cheap fake Morocco (probably sheepskin) that is hated by bookbinders everywhere. After fifty years they disintegrate, releasing chemicals that take the paper with them. When I was a lad in school, you could buy an 11th edition for $50 or at most for $75. Most of them were in bad shape then. Nowadays if you see one at all, it is in a university library's dehumidified special collection: they are very very brittle, and most of them smell very very bad. I'm not sad to see these relics digitalized. Into the fire with them!

 

While I love being able to do research via a computer I still enjoy sitting with a good paperback. I buy books from used book stores, trade books with friends and co-workers. I've received a couple that were picked up at a garage sale for 50 cents or a buck. I have been trying to whittle down my library but I don't think I'll ever stop loving the paperback novel.

Frank

 

Me too Frank, me too!!!:thumbup:

However with that said I have to say that there's one set of old, 1947 Vintage Children Story Book's, I believe it was that was an addition to an off-brand, or at least not well known, I believe, set of Encyclopedia that was sold by the used to be old door to door salesman... that I dearly wish I had kept instead of giving it away to one of my kids for their kids.
Helluvit is when I questioned them about it long ago neither one of them could remember them.
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned them here before. They were covered in what appeared to be a red leather but at their price even back then I don't believe they could've been... When I first learned to read I started out with the very first book even though mom had to help me with lots of the long words she never seemed to tire of it...
I've often said, even here probably that if I could find a well kept complete set of them, preferably with the little wood book shelf made especially for them I'd snap them up instantly providing their price wasn't exhorbent...(sp?) :thumbup:

 

Yvsa, was it "The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls"?

"...The books were produced by the University Society and I believe were available as a supplement to an encyclopedia package. Each set of box included a Parents Guide for helping children with the books. The series has been updated times after it's original printing in 1912-1915... In 1920 the covers were changed to green and the books were reduced from 17 to 10. In 1948 the covers were switched to a brick-red... 10 Volume Set Titles - Red (1948-1955) Series: 1)Nursery Favorites 2)Happy Hours in Storyland 3)Folklore and Fairy Tales 4)Pictures Stores and Music 5)Things to Make and Do 6)Famous Stories and Verse 7)Nature Recreation and Physical Development 8)Stores from Other Lands 9)Boys and Girls Who Became Famous 10)The Manual of Child development"
quoted from http://askville.amazon.com/remember-set-books-called-Bookshelf-Boys-Girls/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=34067926

 

I don't know, guys. I really prefer a good old fashioned book. I'm one of those weird guys, I guess. Even if I look something up online, I'll print it out, and I often look things up online to find sources to order. I think it has to do with the fact that I like to own tangible property.

I also like to multitask. Oh yes, I know: "But it's easier to multitask flipping through several windows at different sources!!"

Well, no, not for me. I like to have my computer in the center of my desk area with my word processor up (I call it my thought processor), and several book arrayed around me, I can simply look from one to the other, and I can use the index as fast as a search function.

For some things, like encyclopedic volumes, are best online since the data can change often. But I like to read history books, mythology books, etc, which shouldn't change (though you'd be SHOCKED to read a 1903 history book and a 2003 history book on say, Civil War era America -- you'll read a very different story).

 

Books? Humph! I still prefer hand written scrolls in Latin.

Sincerely, that is a great book find. I still love a good book, especially ones written before the start of political correctness.