Thursday, March 5, 2009

Disappearing books...

I was trawling blogs and noticed a post about good, escapist books. The estimable blogger, no slouch in the writing department himself, was looking for ideas for other books of that nature.

I'll post a comment, I thought. My bookshelves are nothing if not monuments to my sudden left turns around real life. So I went over to have a quick look. It turns out that almost all my favourite books are missing.

This is not in itself surprising. I have a tendency to fall in love with a particular book from time to time. When I do, I become a cross between one of those besuited & bebadged Mormon missionaries and Father Ted's Mrs. Doyle. This is not to suggest that I am either a Man On A Mission or a crazed tea lady. I might be, but you'll have to get to know me better. But when I do find such a book (e.g. a few years ago it was this masterpiece), I invariably chase anyone who darkens my door with it until they consent to take it home and give it a chance.

The problem is, I do this a lot, or at least, more than I can afford to. Worse, I never remember who I have lent to or what they borrowed. Miraculously, I have all my comics - it's been my experience that those who like comics already have all the good ones, while those who never have read them, don't ever want to start. So now I find myself looking for all my favourite books only to find that I have a bookcase full of red-headed stepchildren (actually, that's a horrible phrase, especially given my own autumnal locks...) and gaps where my precious(es) used to be.

Clearly, there are two choices before me:
Rewrite my version of all the classic novels that are missing from my collection (with apologies to Be Kind Rewind), thus giving birth to such horrors as:




Or,
Write things down and earn enough to buy new books. Go to the library in the meantime. Remember who has what. Stop throwing books at people, or only chuck paperbacks.

Hmm. I dunno. I think option one is the most realistic. Who wants to borrow my hand-drawn copy of Seamus O'Corrugated, The Brightest Spark In The Matchbox?

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Welcome to my blog. I'm a freelance writer/journalist/researcher/editor. I write about education and ideas I've had for the Irish Times. I also research, write and edit for writers, publications and websites. Here I put things that tend not to fit anywhere else. Enjoy.

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