tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post8834062394374778540..comments2023-08-20T04:55:39.436-07:00Comments on Ars Psychiatrica: Enough AlreadyNovalishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10501890494890617030noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-77259000583096056682009-08-23T05:24:15.188-07:002009-08-23T05:24:15.188-07:00A select few is comfortingly homely; but I find th...A select few is comfortingly homely; but I find that as time goes by, I'm becoming increasingly more resentful towards the accumulation of dust that's worth more in its weight than the actual books themselves! Most of my reading is now done online. It seems to me the digital word is counterintuitively more meaningful once it has been stripped of its dusty accoutrements - the musty romanticism of the turned page is quaint next to the mighty scroll of the mouse key!<br><br>Access, speed, and quantity confers a qualitatively richer multi-dimensional experience. Is it really that extra cerebrally and spiritually nourishing to hear the crisp flip of the bygone page carry the waft of yesterday's pulp - as bibliophiles so nostalgically contend?<br><br>The depth of 'real' book absorption versus the superficial skimming of barely tasted online words? - I don't believe so. Gravity lies in the receptiveness to ideas, not in the weight of a tome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-64138017024600644482009-08-23T10:43:54.395-07:002009-08-23T10:43:54.395-07:00Errrrrr!How's that again????Errrrrr!<br>How's that again????Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-1535886171570041672009-08-23T11:35:00.544-07:002009-08-23T11:35:00.544-07:00@anon"A select few is comfortingly homely; bu...@anon<br><br>"A select few is comfortingly homely; but I find that as time goes by, I'm becoming increasingly more resentful towards the accumulation of dust that's worth more in its weight than the actual books themselves!"<br><br>I'm glad someone else shares my complaint. The books are the most annoying aspect of housecleaning. How do libraries do it?<br><br>I've done three purges in the last 20 years--also associated with moves. Of all the objects at home, I find that purging books is the most difficult. They can almost seem alive as I contemplate giving them away or disposing of them. Will they go to a good adoptive home? Can I end their lives if no home can be found?Dr Xhttp://drx.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-91297746823898792262009-08-23T13:06:51.047-07:002009-08-23T13:06:51.047-07:00All told, I also probably spend more time reading ...All told, I also probably spend more time reading online than I do reading books, but it's not a development I'm entirely pleased about. The Internet has exacerbated my natural propensity for impatience, as has aging too probably. A great book yields its secrets only with time, time that seems (no, is) more scarce with each passing day.<br><br>A friend of mine has a "fifty page rule" (if a book hasn't "caught him" by page fifty, he sets it aside), but one could argue that the greatest book would unfold its wisdom so subtlely and gradually that its greatness would emerge full-blown only in the last sentence.<br><br>If for no other reason, I will forever love books because they do not spontaneously lock up or shut down (or lose power in a lightning storm). To read online is to trust to the moment-to-moment stability of The Grid; it's like reading a book that any moment could suddenly crumble into dust in your hands. Granted, the Internet may be Zen in this respect, but if there's anything I don't need it's lessons in impermanence.Novalishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10501890494890617030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-6546675615221255372009-08-23T17:49:42.428-07:002009-08-23T17:49:42.428-07:00As an much older author of visual books formerly c...As an much older author of visual books formerly called artbooks ,I see no comment about yea or nay as regards your dust catching photography or painting books going to their glory.<br>Do they get the same treatment?<br> I ask as well has the electronic print media taken over the beauty of duo-toned engraving or sheet fed gravure printing and fine color plate making which we fought so hard to attain?.<br><br>I really am curious yellow and blue<br>and black and green and matte paper<br>versus glossy if yah know what i mean.<br>Yup! sorry for the last paragraph,lol.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-72243673550628384082009-08-24T12:39:12.787-07:002009-08-24T12:39:12.787-07:00I think we have approx 3000 in main house and abou...I think we have approx 3000 in main house and about 7500 up north and still adding (dump, thrift shop, second hand bookstore, And online for psych and medical. I resent that our library doesn't keep classics and doesn't stock most of the nonfiction I want (Danielle Steele is more popular I guess?). Also, tho I buy most of my new books on kindle they Are too expensive and not everything is available yet. I love having searchable digital text (great for exegesis of scripture) but I also love old bindings and typefaces and smell of leather and illuminated letters and photographs and engravings in books. I like being free of constant need of electricity and being able to give and loan books and not be afraid of breaking, losing or having a kindle stolen. I like casually leavingbooks around for people to find (on things theyare interested in). Mychildren teethedon and fell asleep looking at books as babies a d grew up readers and writers and poets all. One can be generous w a book whereas you'll have to pry this iPhone from my cold dead claw (so many audible and ebooks as well as music,apps, photos and mail on it). I would get rid of clothes and furniture before books. But ihate papers and files. (excuse touchscreen typos)Retrieverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036341287285545932noreply@blogger.com