On the Lending of Books
This week, on social media, I asked people about their practice and experience of lending books. I was surprised by the range of responses. On one hand, some just felt that books were for sharing, that our greatest tribute to a book is to share it with others. Many of these lend with an open hand, not expecting to see their book again. Others who had good experiences had friends who returned borrowed books.
But then there were the bad experiences. Many of these seemed associated with lending a cherished book that was never returned. In general, bad experiences involve people failing to return books. For this reason, some no longer lend.
It seems that one principle might be to not lend a book, the loss of which will make you resent the person who borrowed the book. Now if all your books are precious, that could be a problem! One person I know would only continue to lend books to a person if that person returned previously borrowed books. For me, I get so many books that I’m happy to lend or give them away. The only exceptions are reference book and a handful of books that are important because of content, memories, or because they were a gift representing an important friendship (and such books are often personally inscribed).
How do you deal with lending books?
Five Articles Worth Reading
Did you page through volumes of an encyclopedia as a child? I did. Most of these are now digital but Daniel M. Rothschild writes of the value of physical volumes “In Praise of Reference Books.” He believes the unpretentious reference book deserves a place in literature alongside fiction and non-fiction.
Speaking of encyclopedias, Joseph Epstein writes of his experience editing the Encyclopedia Britannica and his and the most famous figure associated with it in his era, Mortimer Adler. The article is “The Love Song of Mortimer J. Adler” who Epstein characterizes as “high on the past century’s list of savant idiots, or intellectually dazzling figures who get all important things wrong.”
Anyone who writes or edits the writing of others is aware of the importance of syntax. In “I Sing the Electric Body,” Brian Patrick Eha explores how the art of arranging words and phrases can result in muddle or clarity. Then he offers examples of brilliant and questionable syntax in literature.
The Joanine Library in Portugal is one of the most gorgeous libraries of the world, housing many old and rare volumes. Controlling moths and beetles that feast on bindings is a major challenge. Atlas Obscura features their natural form of pest control in “In This Beautiful Library, Bats Guard the Books.”
Finally, We go from bats to bookworms in “The Not-So-Nice Origins of ‘Bookworm.’ ” It turns out that the term was once far more derogatory than it is today. At least now, bookworms are sometimes celebrated, especially among fellow bibliophiles.
Quote of the Week
Novelist Frank Yerby was born September 5, 1916. He made this telling observation:
“Maturity is reached the day we don’t need to be lied to about anything.”
So, am I mature yet?
Miscellaneous Musings
Here’s a reviewer’s dilemma. I recently posted a book review of an author I’d reviewed before and respected for what he wrote. Only after I posted did I discover credible reports of a pattern of improprieties that led to his firing from his most recent academic post. So what does one do? Pull the review? Hope no one knows about it? Leave the post up and append a note acknowledging the information that had subsequently come to my attention? I chose the latter course since the post was out there. But that’s likely the last review I’ll post of that author.
Just finished a book exploring the theology of life on other planets. Given the number of habitable planets in the universe, what does this mean for our belief in God, and for Christians, belief in the saving work of Christ? How far does this extend? And if we believe in some form of natural law, does that hold for other planets?
I wrote a review of the bookseller Thriftbooks several years ago and it has been the gift that keeps giving. Not only does it continue to garner views, but because of a recommendation link in the post, I got several free books on my account just this week! Sweet!
Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for this week!
Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.
The essay on syntax resonated with me — at least in parts.
I did actually read “dark bread that I had never had before with coffee” literally: that is, the narrator had had the bread before, but never before with coffee.
As well, I share with the essayist a disgust with limp sentence endings in newspaper stories. In particular, when reading them aloud, I front the “said”, as in the example
> “‘I’ve never seen scorpions this size,’ said Mr. Hamilton, a professor at the Folderol Institute of Arachnid Studies and an expert in scorpion morphology.”
This is at least an improvement upon
> “‘I’ve never seen scorpions this size,’ Mr. Hamilton, a professor at the Folderol Institute of Arachnid Studies and an expert in scorpion morphology, said.”
I would advocate, however, for
> “Said Mr. Hamilton, a professor at the Folderol Institute of Arachnid Studies and an expert in scorpion morphology: ‘I’ve never seen scorpions this size.’”
In short, I agree that the important bit should be saved for the end.
Readers of this blog should be advised that Epstein’s piece presents quite a number of unforgettable characters besides Adler. Some might add that, along the way, Epstein name-drops a fair number of public intellectuals.”
(In keeping with the essay on syntax, I displaced the adverbial phrase “along the way” from the end of the sentence, where it limped, to a more apposite position, as a parenthesis.)