monday's mulling: books

I have a Facebook page but I'm not as active on it as I used to be. Some big changes in my life took away the zest for sharing photos and thoughts about whatever crossed my mind (not politics...that's a can of worms not to be opened) but I do occasionally like to get on FB to see what's going on in friends' lives. The other day a friend posted a quote about books and it really hit home. It brought back memories of my mom's books. She was a book lover and avid reader and had shelves and shelves and more shelves filled with books. My family moved a lot because of my dad's job and he always fussed that half of the moving expense was due to the weight of Mom's many books.

I love books, too. When we downsized, I looked at my shelves of books (not as many as mom's) and decided that it was time for some to find a new home. It was a tug-at-the-heart undertaking but now that time has passed the angst of letting those books go has passed.

Now back to the quote my friend posted...

Umberto Eco*, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:

“It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.”

“There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.”

“If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice!”

“Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity.”

This is my collection of Dayton and Ohio books. I've read a few but not all. I'm not sure if I'll get to all of them but I love the idea of owning books I've not read. Maybe one day they'll provide diversity to my literary “nutrition,” and when I am old and have more time to sit still, they will enlighten and comfort me.

* Umberto Eco was an Italian philosopher, essayist, and semiotician** who turned to novel writing with his 1980 work, The Name of the Rose. Eco subsequently wrote several more novels, some of which, including The Prague Cemetery, became international best sellers.

**Semiotician: semiotician - an expert or student of semiotics***.

***Semiotics: semiotics -the study of the use of symbolic communication. Semiotics can include signs, logos, gestures and other linguistic and nonlinguistic communication methods. As a word, semiotics derives from the Greek sēmeiōtikós, which describes the action of interpreting signs.