What would you keep?

[fsn]

A friend of mine was perusing my bookcases and randomly picking out books. (He was putting them back in wrong places which was annoying.) He was musing on the obsolescence of paper and the dawning of the Kindle age. "What he asked "would you do in the case of a fire?" This man is on my "move out of contact with" list.

However, he left me staring at the bookcases in this room (there are several others - OK lots of others - scattered about the house) and I did wonder which of these precious volumes I would save and why.

I came up with:
    "Waterloo, a near run thing" by David Howarth (first proper book I read on the Napoleonic Wars)
    "Firepower" by Brigadier BP Hughes (Fascinating read on gunpowder weaponry)
    "Armies of the Napoleonic Wars" Otto von Pivka
    "Navies of the Napoleonic Wars" ditto
    "War Games" by Donald F Featherstone (the inspiration of a lifestyle)

Then I turned to the next bookcase and there's all my WWII books, and on the other side those classic Greek texts that got me through some bad times, and, and, and I can't decide.

What I did realise was that I was attached to the physical volume itself, not the writing. "A near run thing" is available on Amazon for 1p, but it wouldn't be MY volume, it wouldn't have the loose pages I'd read, not that splash of bright green glass paint I was using for the bases of Airfix highlanders in 1977. "War Games" has been reissued, but it wouldn't be the copy that, as a boy, I took out time and time again from the dark, overstuffed room at the back of the library in Hawarden, North Wales and was overjoyed to buy for 10p when the book was discontinued. I could replace "Armies of the Napoleonic Wars" but I could never recover the awe and pleasure at reading about those odd little German states, would a new copy be able to reflect that tingle that has seeped into those pages? I used that book to write and rewrite lists for armies that were seemingly out of reach. Could a new copy of "Firepower" bring back the memories of writing my final dissertation for my degree in 1984 "A Statistically Based Set of Wargames Rules for the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars"?

These aren't just books, they are friends and companions. They have been with me where friends and lovers have come and gone. They have been my comforts, my teachers and my home.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's got literally thousands of books, but am I the only one who gets emotionally attached to them?

[ronan]

(...) but am I the only one who gets emotionally attached to them?

oh no, you're not !
I had to move from a house to a flat 2 years ago. It was very difficult to put all these books.. But I have given only a few. Couldn't throw away my books (and my vinyls !)

[General Greenman]

No you are not alone. I and my wife seriously have about 3,000 books in the house and recently our son stated that we could reduce the space they take up if we used.a kindle .
To us books have a soul . They contain memories as had you stated. These are what make us human. The idea of a Kindle makes the experience of reading utilitarian not individual and a textual experience Prehsps we are romantically attached but are we not richer and more complete as people .

[ryman1]

Agree with Greenman, a kindle to me is soul-less, I want to 'feel' what I'm reading and look on it fondly once it's back on the shelf as something I enjoyed and will return to.
There's added weight behind the words (pun intended) when holding a book, it's almost as if you feel the substance of the writers soul.
Also, what happens when the kindle breaks?, all your books are gone.

To answer the original post, there are a dozen or so books I have kept since childhood and a few I could not bear to part with, chief among them 'Uniforms of the Napoleonic wars' by Blandford which my grandfather found at a bootsale some 26 years ago.
It was the reason I pestered my father to pay £25 (back in 1989) for a VHS copy of Waterloo which then led to him buying me some Airfix soldiers which in turn is the reason I became and am still obsessed with miniature wargame figures.

Books are very important to me, many have personal stories behind them.

Good thread Fsn.

Cheers

Ry

[fred.]

I have loads of books, as does my wife and my children - we have too many books to practically store.

Recently I have switched to buying most books via Kindle - for two main reasons, storage and portability. If I buy a Kindle book from Amazon I can read it on my iPad or my iPhone. While the phone isn't great for reading, it is convenient as it is always with me. So if I am stuck somewhere for 10mins I can read my current book. I really like the iPad for reading - it is much handy, and lighter than a big paper back, let alone a hardback.

I also really like the dictionary feature - you can easily check obscure words. Also having a built in light is really handy.

As to the breaking issue, if the hardware breaks, you don't loose anything, the records of your purchases are stored with Amazon.

I do like books - and printed books are still much better for large format books with lots of pictures - but for novels electronic wins for me.

[Russell Phillips]

For a long time, I thought I'd never read an ebook, but I bought a Kindle a couple of years ago and I've found that, for a variety of reasons, I prefer to read on Kindle than read a paper book. I still read paper books sometimes, but I prefer digital.

Also, what happens when the kindle breaks?, all your books are gone.

I have copies of all my ebooks on my laptop. Like all my other important digital files, they're backed up onto a remote server and onto an external hard drive. Right now, I can read my ebooks on my Kindle, tablet, phone or laptop. If my Kindle breaks I'll buy a new one, but until it arrives I'll read on my tablet and phone. Or make do with paper books 

To answer the original post, I'd really struggle to choose a few paper books to save. The Dune Encyclopedia would probably be top of the list, Charles Grant's Battle and my Usborne Battlegame Books would definitely be on the list. I've got several Jane's books that I'd be loathe to lose, but they're big and heavy, so I might not manage to get them out if there was an actual fire. 

[fsn]

'Uniforms of the Napoleonic wars' by Blandford

I have that one too, along with "Uniforms of Waterloo" and "Uniforms of the Peninsula War". I'd have to save these.

I have a Kindle, and appreciate it's utility, but it's not a book. I was always impressed that Captain Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was often seen with a proper book. Gives me hope for the future.

I love old books. I have a series printed during WWII called "The First Year of the War", etc. filled with photographs proudly trumpeting wonderful British tanks, there's a sense of history. If I pick up a book in a second hand shop signed, or dedicated, I feel a little touch with history. Tatty little books that aren't in print any more seem to call to me. I recently picked up a copy of "Guerilla Warfare" by 'Yank' Levy, which is a fascinating read. Can't get that thrill from the a Kindle.     

[Luddite]

In 500 years our descendants will be able to pick up a book, leaf through it's yellowed pages and read the wisdom of our age.

In 500 years they'll pick up a Kindle and...um...

[goat major]

Excellent post fsn !

My must-save book would be the Great Book of Britains - I never tire of browsing through it

[fsn]

Excellent post fsn !

My must-save book would be the Great Book of Britains - I never tire of browsing through it

Genuinely wondered why you were so attached to 54mm. To quote the great sage Homer "Doh!".

[Nosher]

I keep any reference books but invariably 99% of my fictional stuff goes once its read either to the charity shop or to friends. Increasingly I'm reading all my fictional stuff on the kindle as its largely cheaper and therefore more economical.

The only problem with the kindle is that in a toilet emergency you cant wipe you're arse on it, whereas with a Jilly Cooper/Mills and Boon - that's what such books were wrote for

[FierceKitty]

I used to have many thousands of books before I started my English-teaching Odyssey. That forced me to confront the fact that there were many I'd never read again, others I'd never read at all, and some I was keeping for sentimental reasons, not literary. It's a struggle to throw such things out, but liberating too. I don't go for the Buddhist ideal of complete non-attachment, but discriminating attachments are necessary, I think.
I can tell a similar story of my hosts of 6mm armies too.

[Hertsblue]

My books fall into two catagories - fiction, which I may or may not read again and which can be sold, bartered, exchanged, lent or given away, and reference, which I would never part with. The latter include most of the books in the Blandford series, the Almark paperbacks on various unrelated subjects, Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships for 1914, my tatty old copy of Verdy du Vernois' With the Royal Headquarters and many others that are simply irreplaceable. These never leave the house and I have been known to refuse point-blank to lend them to anyone.

I was given a Kobo for Christmas, and for reading on the move or waiting around for something to happen it is ultra convenient. Its major drawback is the small size of the printed page which means one is continually turning pages. For any serious reading, particularly involving maps, I much prefer the size and heft of a real book. There's nothing quite like it. 

[Orcs]

I started to think about this, and realised that as others have commented I am attatched to all my reference books, some I have collected and never read, others like my Janes Fighting ships and Imperial Russian and Japenese navies again by FT Jane I regularly just browse through.

I like the feel of a book, but the fiction is transient and most can be swapped or given away.  the Non-fiction is almost sacred.  My prettier half has a kindle and its not the same.  I may consider one for holidays but I doubt it

[GordonY]

Dont buy a Kindle!!!

Kindles run at around the £100 mark, on Evil-Bay you can pick up a 7" tablet (Android) these days for £40, no brainer really, plus you cant play Angry Birds on a Kindle.