Are you a book nazi?

[Francesca]

The way i see it, there are two types of book readers (well, ok there's thousands, but for the sake of this post...) - there are those that will never turn the corner of a page down or bend it back too far, keep their books lovingly anally stacked neatly on shelves or the floor and recoil in horror at the thought of reading in the bath lest the book become tainted by water, the mark of the beast as far as these readers are concerned.
Then there are those who will devour the book- write on it, muddy it, bend it, enjoy it for all it's worth and when done with it, cast it aside like the defiled shell that it has become. Well, maybe not cast it aside. And maybe not defiled in the biblical sense.

Anyway, how anal are you about your books? Because i just don't understand this - it's the words that are important, not the paper. If it's a first edition then fine, keep it safe. But other than that why so uptight? I don't like other people messing up my books, but i like to leave my mark on my books, i like them to at least look like they've been enjoyed. Where's the joy in a row of sterile unread/unloved books? Feast upon the books!

Fran

[Evnglion]

here's a pretty quick answer. If it is a hardback, hell no it's not going in the water. Paperback? Trash the thing, i could care less. Also, wether it is a library book or not plays a big role for me.

[SkeptiJess]

I'm afraid most of my books are a mess. I read them over and over so they get all loose and floppy over time. I <gasp> bend down the pages (but only on my own books, never on library or borrowed books). I read in the bath tub and in the hot tub. I read while I'm cooking, so my books are peppered with grease and food spatter. I read while I'm doing my hair and makeup, so they're also peppered with hair spray and loose powder. There are random stacks of books all over my house. And, my son is following down my path. This is why I try to buy hardbacks -- they cost more, but hold up better under the rigorous reading conditions at Casa Jess.

Jess -- in short, most definately not a Book Nazi.

[Agrippina]

For some reason, I have only recently begun marking in my books (paperbacks only). I've gotten into the habit of keeping track of my favorite quotes and I keep them in a .txt file on my computer. I mostly just highlight favorite quotes.

[Steve Wright]

Jawohl! Ich bin ein Book Nazi!

Why? Because, over time, it pays off... I've got much read (and much loved) paperbacks from as long ago as 1971 that are still in readable condition. This, to me, is A Good Thing.

I'm not absolutely anal about it... if you pick up my 1971 pb's, it's going to be pretty obvious someone's read them before you. Accidents happen - if you read books (and what else could possibly be the point of having them?) they're going to get worn. And it doesn't help that I don't have anything like enough shelf space... but, if a bit of simple care will prevent some accidents and lengthen the useful life of the book, then I'm all for it. Besides, back in 1971 those paperbacks cost seven shillings - 35p - each, do you think I feel like replacing them at today's prices?!

[El_Kabong]

Basically it depends on the utility of the book as a reference, and the relative difficulty of replacing it if it wears out. As for marking them up, I don't see the point when we live in the age of Post-its.

I've got modest collections of both hardback and softbacks on aviation, railroading, and, er, UFOs that were painstakingly built up over years; these get taken care of, because I consult them often and most would be hard to replace. And no one touches my collection of Iain M. Banks novels, simply because most of them are out of print in the USA. Anything else, however, no problem; read 'em, abuse 'em, kick 'em across the room, doesn't matter.

[Drastic]

I'm certainly not anal about stacking, and I will occasionally mark in books. I will never ever fold down pages--that's about my only hard line against book-abuse.

[Kayeby]

It really depends on the book - if it's one that I suspect I'll love for years, I try not to turn the corners or bend it too far. Occasionally I'll underline phrases that I particularly enjoyed.

Anal stacking? Definitely not me; all my books - except library books which are stacked neatly - are thrown all around my bedroom.

Reading in the bath is no biggie. In primary school, I once dropped a hardback library book in the bath and sneakily tried to return it to the shelf without anybody noticing. I ended up confessing because the librarian was accusing somebody else of doing it.

However, I scribble shamelessly in texts that I have to write essays on - I think it makes me look more intelligent. ;) There's something incredibly satisfying about flipping through a book that looks well-loved and well-used.

[Fiver]

Books are, or can be, beautiful objects as worthy of care and protection as fine china or expensive furniture.

This is especially true of hardcovers. Paperbacks are essentially disposable; I no longer own the complete Lord of the Rings because my paperback copies of 'Fellowship' and Return of the King got so skanky I had to throw them out.

I no longer buy mass-market paperbacks, and if I can get the hardcover instead of a trade paperback, that will always be my preference. And when I get them, I take care of them.

[Scarlett67]

It's not so much a Nazi thing as it is simply taking care of one's possessions. I might (gasp!) actually want to read a book again, so I take care of the ones I have, paperback or not. I read in the tub, but I'm careful. For some favorite books, I have a pristine "shelf copy" and a more worn "reading copy." And of course, out-of-print books, antiques, and first editions get very special care. Perhaps it's just my background -- avid reader since age 3, BA in graphic design, special interest in typography, used to work at a printing company, now a freelance copyeditor -- but I value books as objects as well as for their content. (I've boycotted the local Hardee's since the day I saw that they had "decorated" with two-inch-deep "bookshelves" filled with the corpses of hundreds of fine old hardbacks that had been sawed off about an inch from the spine. The sight made me physically ill.)

I also put CDs back in their cases, hang my nice clothes on their hooks instead of on the floor, and replace the caps on pens and markers when I'm not writing with them. If not trashing my own stuff makes me a Nazi, well Heil to you.

[dodge_this]

It depends. I'm very careful with other people's books and books I haven't bought yet. It irks me whenever I see someone mishandle a book in a bookstore ie pick out a pristine paperback and open it all the way till the spine creases.

Most of my books are not shelved. They're scattered over my floor, around my bed, stacked horizontally on sagging shelves. Even my favourites look like they've been through the great war - stained, pages curling. I don't really mind.

I'm against page corner bending. But I do write in my books. I do 'The English Patient' thing - I write whole lines of thoughts in the blank spaces; I tear out pages from other books that I want to throw out, slot them in between the pages of another. It's very strange habit of mine.

[riley dieffenbach]

My wife accuses me of being a book Nazi all the time, but that is really on with hardbacks. I am a rare book dealer so handling books gently has been ingrained into me. Paperbacks of mine are dog-eared, worn and well loved.

I can't tell you how many beautiful and potentially valuable books have been ruined by being in the bathtub, having huge bookplates applied, or by extensive footnoting throughout the text. Such a shame.

[isopropyl]

I follow what other people have done.
If I have a borrowed book and it has marginal notations and spots of spaghetti sauce, I treat it casually.

A new book from the library makes me careful, and I am ashamed if I get it wet.

On my own books, I'll dogear workaday books, like gardening, but not anything I might ever want to loan, like a bestseller.

[Flutterby]

I'm not especially a book Nazi but I do take care of my books as best I can. I have a bunch of paperbacks (I buy them more then hardcovers just cuz I don't have that much money though I love searching through the sale section of bookstores and finding good books cheap in hardcover). Most of my paperbacks are a bit ragged around the edges but that is mainly from carrying them in my backpack. They often get crushed and such in there. I haven't written in a book since I was small. (It was my name in my Beatrix Potter books.)

I don't read in the tub for the simple reason I don't take baths. If I do take a bath I might read a paperback in it though and I'm careful not to drop it. Just generally I'm casual but I try to keep them in decent condition so I can enjoy them for longer.

Scarlett67 I only have one copy of a book that has a 'shelf copy' and a 'reading copy' and that is Anne of Green Gables. I have the paperback which I got in PEI at Green Gables which is a bit dog eared and rough around the edges and I have the Reader's Digest Hardcover copy with pictures and a written history inside.

[Scarlett67]

Originally posted by Obsidian Flutterby
I only have one copy of a book that has a 'shelf copy' and a 'reading copy' and that is Anne of Green Gables.

The three that I can think of offhand are the Odyssey, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Flowers for Algernon. I'm sure there are more.

[gobear]

It depends on the book. I take care of hardbacks, simply because they are so expensive to replace. I usually take care of paperbacks that I want to keep, like my Terry Pratchett novels I imported from England. I still have a paperback omnibus edition of Dracula, Frankenstein and Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde that I bought in 1979 when I was in high school.

However, life happens, and if a book gets spaghetti sauce on it or a little water from the tub, [Gallic shrug], oh well.

[Manda JO]

I really think that writting in books is a completly different catagory than kicking them around. Writing in books (assuming that they are yours, of course) is how you claim them.

Mind you, I have an English degree and love nothing more than the sort of really close analytical reading that other people like to call "ruining it", so that may color my viewpoint. But when I flip through my copy of Paradise Lost and see all the notes I wrote in the margins, all the words I circled and connected to other words, I can actually reexperiece not just the work, but what it was like to read the work that particular time. I can look back and see how I was thinking then, what examples I was bringing to bear, what issues were on my mind. Whenever I read Paradise Lost in earnest a second time (I reread sections alot) I will get another copy. Then, 20 years from now I can compare the notations in the two (and maybe others) and have a more telling "snapshot" of myself at a particular age than any photograph.

I love the way works that I have really taken apart and examined look when I get done with them--my "Benito Cerino", for example, has every paragraph numbered, to corrospond with a lost notebook, and cf.s throughout. It's like looking back on a tall mountain and seeing the flag you planted waving on the top--it say "I was here, I mastered this" in a profound way.

Marginalia by really famous people is a treasure trove for biographers, and while I don't really think I will have many of those, my grandchildren might enjoy seeing what I did to my favorite books.

Also, I am simply not smart enough to remember all I want to say, all the little connections I am starting ot see in a Great Book without notation. Sure, my bestsellers, my romance novels,those sorts of things I just tear through and don't write in. But when I am reading a complex work, I can't do the author justice without notation.

As far as the condidtion of my books: that depends on the type. Cheap paperbacks I abuse terribly, I try and keep the reference section together and in good condition, mostly so that I can find things when I need it, though all my style guides are worn to hell. I throw away dust jackets as soon as a purchase a book, since they tend to start looking ratty with even casual usage, and the book looks better bare than with a ratty dust jacket.

[Airbeck]

I like opening up and reading a crisp new book. I don't like reading books that are all bent, mangled, chewed up, dog-eared or written in. I may want to read that book a second time down the line, so I like to keep it looking new. I don't see anything wrong with that. Sure it's only 7 bucks, but why buy something twice if you don't have to?

If I loan someone a book and I get it back all bent, mangled, chewed up, dog-eared or written in I am upset. I'm anal about it, I admit it, but why not return something the way that it was lent to you? In fact, sometimes I'd even tell the guy to keep it and I'd buy myself another copy. I respect the belongings of others when they lend them to me. I actually treat things that I borrow better than my own things. I don't understand how anyone could not be like that.

Am I anal about this stuff? Yes.
Do I feel that I'm being unreasonable? No.
Am I a book nazi? By your definition, pretty much.

I don't keep them stacked on the shelf all neat though, because that's just crazy ;)

[Infovore]

I am a book Nazi in most cases, but not all. I'm very anal about new paperbacks (to the point that I won't even lend my paperbacks to a friend unless the friend promises they won't bend the spine--I hate bent spines) and have been since I was a kid; as a result I have childhood books that are still in completely readable shape. Same for hardbacks--most of mine look like they could be brand new, including the dust jackets. I don't bend pages down nor write in the books (except for college texts, which I *did* write in and highlight). I'm not ashamed to admit this and insist that if my friends are going to borrow or look at my books, they must treat them with the same respect I do.

I'm particularly careful about books belonging to other people (even more than I am with my own), and less careful with books I've bought used that are already pretty mangled. But as a rule I do like to keep most of my things in like-new condition as long as possible, so it's not just books that I'm like this with.

[Barbarian]

Francesca, the words may be important, but the packaging does count too. Just like people :D

I have to be a book nazi. If I bent the spines, how the hell would I identify them on the shelves? Keep 'em clean, keep 'em tidy, and they'll last you a lifetime. And your grandkids's too.

Which is my philosophy about pretty much everything.

[SkeptiJess]

It occurs to me that I might want to borrow a book from a fellow Doper someday, so let me clarify something. Although I am casual with my own books, I am extremely careful with borrowed books. Including library books. Am I the only one who loves the idea of all these Doper houses with stacks of books everywhere? <happy shiver>

[Francesca]

Originally posted by Barbarian
Francesca, the words may be important, but the packaging does count too. Just like people :D


This is true, and i didn't really make it clear that i wasn't talking about hardbacks. I respect hardbacks as much as the next person, but i'm too poor to buy them so i generally only have paperback versions. It's killing me to wait for Steven King's autobiography to come out in paperback over here. But i find reading a book in paperback more enjoyable anyway - then it isn't some lofty tome, it's something you can be intimate with. With a hardback i always feel like i should be sitting up properly but with a good paperback i can curl up and properly lose myself. I love books.

And obviously i wasn't talking about library books. They're not your books to defile.

It's not so much a Nazi thing as it is simply taking care of one's possessions. I might (gasp!) actually want to read a book again, so I take care of the ones I have, paperback or not.

I read my books over and over again too- that's why they get so tatty and i love them tatty. It's like a little record of my enjoyment of and attention to them. I haven't got to the stage where any of them actually falling apart, but if i did it's just a matter of getting another copy. I'd keep the old copy though. I'm with Manda JO on this - it's like you've made your mark on the book - staked it out as your territory and important to you personally. In fact, when/if i have the money i intend to start collecting annotated books and antique notebooks. Now they would be treasures.

Fran

[Scarlett67]

Originally posted by Barbarian
If I bent the spines, how the hell would I identify them on the shelves? Keep 'em clean, keep 'em tidy . . .

Barbarian, are you sure you've chosen an appropriate username? ;)

[Irishman]

Certified book Nazi. I hate seeing books crumpled up, corners folded, scribbling in them, dirty, creased covers, etc. For one thing, it seems disrespectful. You have to destroy a book to read it?

Second, books are expensive. Even paperbacks run 6 or 7 bucks. Who wants to spend $25 or more on a hardback? Paperbacks stretch that book budget so much farther. And even though I'm no longer a teenager on a $5 a week allowance, books still get expensive when I follow my obsession. (Believe me, it's an obsession. I haven't quite been skipping work to read.... yet.)

I like to keep my books - they're trophies of what I've read, and they come in handy if I want to reread them later. Also, they can be lent out and shared. I'm now in a reading club where we do exaclty that. Sure is much easier to read a book in good shape than crumpled, stained, water-logged, and scribbled in. Plus, I grew up sharing books anyway. Three siblings buying and reading the same books, often fighting for the order to read them. Makes book buying stretch further if you don't have to buy 3 copies of the book (1 each), but can buy three different books and take turns.

Finally, it is distracting to try to read a book that someone has marked up, highlighted, and made notes in. I can't follow the story for all the annotations, it's annoying. And that's not just with books. I have the same problem at work. It frustrates me to try to keep clean copies of drawings or documents around the office when others borrow them, then scribble all over them. Why? Sometimes I have to include a clean copy in a data file, or send it to someone else. Maybe I have to give a copy to the shop to manufacture from it. Maybe I need to copy off a figure to put in a presentation - sure sucks to have some hand-scribbled notes across the pretty picture.

I tried reading a book while eating - too difficult, as it is hard to keep the book open and turn pages, and easy to get food stains on it. I do read magazines while eating, but they tend to lay flat on their own, something books don't do.

If someone wants to trash their own books, that's their business - I just won't lend them mine.

Oh, and the paperbacks I read often have pretty pictures on the cover - I hate to see those messed up, too. Do NOT use a book as a coaster!

[OxyMoron]

No no no. I'm really hard on books, but they're usually in serviceable condition even after I get done with them. Hardcovers get no special treatment from me, although I try not to buy them anyway because they're too goddamn heavy to carry on the train with me.

I'm not much of a marker, at least not since I'm out of school, but I do bend over pages (no Senator jokes here, please) on the rare occasion I find something really interesting or quotable.

I hope everyone's read 84 Charing Cross Road? If you haven't you must - anyway, the author talks about her great pleasure in buying used books and letting them fall open to the prior owner's favorite passages....

[waterj2]

I use books as a medium for getting the content therein from the author to me, not as precious objects. If I feel like writing, folding, highlighting, whatever, I'll do it. Usually I don't, and I usually make it through a book without breaking the spine. If it's a hardcover, or I think I might lend it out, I'll probably abstain from marking it, but I don't buy the damn things for a pretty set of bound sheets of paper.

There was a horrible textbook (Boyce and DiPrima's Differential Equations book) where I found it easier to use a black permanent marker to keep myself from rereading useless text. It also developed several obscenities directed at the authors in the margins. Needless to say, I didn't try to sell it when I was done, despite the "improvements".

[Tedster]

I have a nice collection of books, and they are one of lifes best pleasures. I love the internet and all, but somehow it doesn't compare to reading in bed. (Maybe laptops or something similar will supplant bookshelves someday) Still, a collection of books is a beautiful thing--No electricity required, handy and portable.

Now, to the more fascistic aspect of books.

Well, I had a roommate in the Army who had a paper back of something or other I wanted to read. I casually asked him "Hey can I read your book?"

He sort of pondered me for a second and said "Yeah, but if you'll notice that I only open the book partway in order not to crease the spine; All my books (gestures towards stack) don't have any creases in the spine, I hate that."

Sure, no problem. It was sort of awkward, but I think a good practice. My pet peeve in general is the poor quality of the books themselves. I cannot stand it when I've paid 20 bucks for a book and the cover starts separating from the book. Pages falling out? Well, the bindery people who signed off on that need to be beaten severely. (kidding!)

It seems like pre-war books (World War II) were of better quality paper, I have some older ones and the paper hasn't yellowed. Then around the 40's the books got much lighter and the paper pulpy and rough. Lot's worse has happened since then as well, but definitely a sign of impending anarchy and mob rule.

[Fenris]

Originally posted by Francesca
The way i see it, there are two types of book readers (well, ok there's thousands, but for the sake of this post...) - there are those that will never turn the corner of a page down or bend it back too far, keep their books lovingly anally stacked neatly on shelves or the floor and recoil in horror at the thought of reading in the bath lest the book become tainted by water, the mark of the beast as far as these readers are concerned.
Then there are those who will devour the book- write on it, muddy it, bend it, enjoy it for all it's worth and when done with it, cast it aside like the defiled shell that it has become. Well, maybe not cast it aside. And maybe not defiled in the biblical sense.

Anyway, how anal are you about your books? Because i just don't understand this - it's the words that are important, not the paper. If it's a first edition then fine, keep it safe. But other than that why so uptight? I don't like other people messing up my books, but i like to leave my mark on my books, i like them to at least look like they've been enjoyed. Where's the joy in a row of sterile unread/unloved books? Feast upon the books!


A) I'm not any kind of Nazi. (I know what you mean, but I can't let that comment go...I hate <Noun>-Nazi as a descriptor)

B) I like to keep my books in good shape.

C) You've created a false dichotomy. You've insinuated that people who don't treat books like toilet paper don't enjoy books. It's entirely possible to love books, read books and not ruin them. Guess which camp I fall into?

D) Sure it's the words that are important. But the words are on paper. If the paper is mildewed from being dropped in the tub (I admit to reading in the tub...carefully), if the words are obscured by food stains, or magic marker or whatever, it's harder to read the words. If chunks of words are missing because the corner of the book you dog-eared finally came off, pages have fallen out because you've broken the glue on the spine, the words are gone.

E) I've got paperbacks from the early '50s, pulp magazines from the '30s and hardcovers from the turn of the century. All of them have been read, reread and loved by me and the previous owners. The reason I'm able to reread them is that someone back when took care of them and that on each reread, I try to care for them too.

Also, you said
. I haven't got to the stage where any of them actually falling apart, but if i did it's just a matter of getting another copy. I'd keep the old copy though.
That's great, if another copy is available, but try to find another copy of (to choose a fairly recent book) Sherri Tepper's Marianne, The <something> and the Malachite Mouse for less than $100. It's only 10 years old, too. You never know when a book will go out of print or become hard to find. I keep 'em in the best possible shape as long as I can so that they'll be there to re-read in 10 years.

Looking over the above post, it seems far more strident/antagonistic than I'd intended. Here's a bunch of smilies: :) :) :) :) :) :) to use as you see fit. ;)

Fenris