Book Cruelty!
 

I'm told that I'm too picky about my books. That paperbacks in particular are supposed to get worn down and look like they've been read. I can't stand it. I see a crease down the spine of my book and panic. I open it only so far so as not to bend the spine the wrong way or have it tilt. I try not to pack them too tightly so they don't end up wonky shaped.

My Aunt on the other hand, folds books in half to mark her place before putting them in her pocket. My dad gets books from the used bookstore and then tears off the pages as he reads them and tosses them in the trash.

So here I am, gingerly tucking my books away and taking care not to cause extra damage so I can read them again when I want to, or keep them in good shape so I can get more money if I trade them in (I'm a cheapskate and don't like shelling out for hardcovers). Books that are worn in an attractive way (not crooked, open without stressing the spine, etc) I don't mind at all.

So am I a little odd here, or do other people make attempts -heroic or not- to preserve their books? What about just letting them wear down to show signs of use or appreciation as some have it?

Oh, and to note: I'm not talking about mangling books for the purposes of art and such, just general wear and tear from reading or passing them around. I have a copy of The Da Vinci Code which has been around a couple blocks as I've loaned it out. I think I finally got rid of it though. No plans to read it again.

No, I wouldn't call you that odd Quiet as I do the same things to my paperbacks. I usually hold them halfway open so I don't crease the spine and insist on using bookmarks, no dogearing pages, thanks!

Even some of the books that I have read several times don't show wear. In a way maybe I'm too crazy about that, but I never feel uncomfortable reading them "carefully" in any case ;)

Um.... good thing we don't live in book-borrowing distance, Quiet. :p I actually find it kind of weird that I never knew that about you. You'd think it would have come up.

I don't really attach any sort of aesthetic value to my books. When I get a paperback, I reverse-bend it all the way so I can set it down and read it without holding it. I fold pages relentlessly to mark my place.

Granted, my father usually ends up reading them after I do and he's even worse about (half the books I lend him are missing their covers...) so it would be kind of pointless to even try.

That said, I do someday want a display copy of the entire Malazan Book of the Fallen, since they just look awesome sitting on a bookshelf, but at the moment, my collection of them is varied between paperback, trade paperback, and hardcover and American and British editions, besides.

Its something I can understand. I had a friend that was super picky about her mangas and wouldn't let me touch them unless I promised to wash my hands and not bend the spine. It was hard because my eye sight is bad so some times I couldn't read the dialogue. Part of me understands its for potential collectors value.

I personally very rough on my books, which is why I love getting hard back copies they tend to last longer. My first set of Harry potter books were ruined with in a month of me reading then because they were paper backs. I also frequent the library and was raised on Altered books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altered_book

Lastly I use the library so the books are already beat up when I get them. I just hate, dog earing a page.

I know exactly what you are going through.
I can't stand the way people treat books. I'm a nice person and loan mine out once and a while and then when people try to return them to me with what they call "normal reading damage" or "Normal wear and tear" I shrug and tell them to keep it. The next day I've got a brand new copy sitting on my shelf and everything is alright.
I do like to buy used books. I find some of my favorites that way. Things you wouldn't normally look for you find in one of those old book shops and fall in love with them. If the book is "pre damaged" I don't mind it much.. I'm weird that way. Its more of, if the book is damaged after I get it I freak. I don't like to borrow books from others, not even the library most of the time.
Normally I can keep my books in perfect condition without much thought in it.
Yet my favorite book has been read so much (I almost have it memorized) that its starting to show on the edges and spine. I figure I'll give it to a friend as a gift and get a new copy soon.
I got my love of books from my father as well as the concern for the treatment of the books. My mother on the other hand... shows no concern whatsoever. She's one of those people that could damage the book six ways to Sunday and not care...
Very few things in my life are important... the things i own normally remain in perfect condition long after they should. Whereas the love of my life goes through things like water.
-sigh-
It's gonna be an interesting life~

I can handle some "pre-wear" too. I don't mind buying pre-read books as long as the wear is light and the book is more or less in the shape - literal shape - it's suppopsed to be in. I hate it when spines end up at a slant, or books get flattened so much that the spine has apparently movied to the other side of the book and it opens more like a folder than a book. Ick! Can't stand pages falling out either.

Sheol, you think it would have come up but I guess talking about books doesn't take as much precedence as talking about what's in them. ;)

I do have a bit of a destructive streak too though. If a book I get is starting to look beyond hope, I have no qualms about taking my dad's read-an-toss approach or just ripping the thing in half and putting it out of it's misery. (So long as it's a reprint of course. ;))

In another instance of book cruelty, I once threw Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson violently across the room after being sucker-punched with a death scene. I fear the book has never recovered, though that may be my 5+ read-throughs of it...

Five reads and you still threw it across the room?

The most dire instance I've had happen to a book in my care was when one of my sister's dogs decided to select a book from a large pile, the book being Gregory Keyes' Age of Unreason (I think. Sequel to Newton's Cannon) and proceed to mince it beyond readability. I told my sister not to bother replacing it, though I know another copy can be found at a certain used book store where I picked up Newton's Cannon in the first place. Oh well. The dog was young and it saved me having to decide whether or not to keep it. ;)

No, no, this was the first read. And, admittedly, I should have seen it coming. It's obviously foreshadowed, I just missed it somehow.

I meant that reading it five times has put a lot of wear on the book.

Oh I get that much. I'm just curious that you would get annoyed enough with a book to toss it across a room and then read it again.

I wasn't annoyed. I was... heartbroken? I don't know. I was just so furious that the author killed this guy (something GRRM never managed to come close to for me). I love the story for that exact reason, though. Nothing else inspires that much emotion in me.

Ah. Gotcha. I remember being sad when I learned that a particular character in War adn Peace was going to die (the translator put a summery of events in the begining of the novel which naturally I read a little into). I had time to adjust to the idea though, so it wasn't as dramatic and evil as it could have been. Still made me sad though. :(. He's still one of my favourite literary characters. It was fascinating since he's so ignorable in the beginning of the book but shifts to a major figure later on.

Well, this just caught me completely off-guard. I was really invested in the character, and then, all the sudden, there's a yard of steel jutting out of his back. I honestly felt like the author just killed a close friend of mine.

Which pretty much instantly made him my favorite author. :D It takes a rare talent to evoke that kind of response.

Yeah. That's why I have to be appreciateive of Martin and how much I hate he who shall not be named in Game of Thrones. I can get emotional about books but that level of hatred is rare for me. I'm just going to stop now. Bristling already.

oh Sheol you remind me of one of my friends in high school. I have never been so attached to a character but she was for the Merrgy Gentry Series written by Laurell K Hamlition. ( before the series became an erotic mess) She got so angry she stood up in the cafateria and started to beat the book against the table. Luckily it was a hard back but it was still funny and sudden to see.

One would think a hard cover would be easier to snap. At least paper backs have some ability to absorb damage. Never beaten up a hard cover before though, so I can't really say. I imagine I've launched a paperback or two across rooms but I can't recall specifically what they might have been.

I like to have my books looking perfact! I made a little sack for them so they wouldn't get tattered in my bag. Though i didn't use it on my poor last book I got out of the library. the poor book was perfect when i got it but the corner was split and the edges tattered.

What panics me on books are the staines and major rips in books ESPECIALLY Manga I can be a perfectionist to a point. Fold a tiny part of the page isn't a problem for me but half of the page freaks me out and to have those permanent crease make me want to cry.

for reading books the crease down the spine is alright as long as that part isn't falling apart and pages start to fall out of it. just for me no major stains and no major rips or tears in it. Minor rips are easy as invisible tape and a tiny dot of water fr example isn't a problem just blot the dry towel on the spot and its done but blood, paint, marker, I freak out then I would try to save it by using white out.

I'm not extremely picky with regular books.
But I do try to preserve them as much as possible.

I am picky when it comes to my manga.
Which is why nobody else is allowed to touch them.

For me when someone wants to borrow my manga, I puve them expectaions on how it should be treated such as how to open the book do it like an 180 degree open not 270 and DEFINITELY NOT 360 degrees, 180 or less.

I don't usually loan my books out often but the odd time I do I don't usualy make a point of saying to keep it in good shape. I generally expect people to do that anyway because it's someone else's book! I loaned a copy of a novel to a classmate once because he couldn't find a copy for his paper he wanted to write. It came back with a wee bit more wear on the spine and I did cringe a bit but it wasn't serious. No pages are falling out and the book is still rectangular in shape.

What really gets to me is books opened to far that one can see the glue holding the pages to the spine. I'd prefer a trashed cover over pages possibly falling out!

Kind of a reverse of the above, a friend in highschool lent me a copy of Time of Twins (Dragonlance) that was absolutely decrepit, and he had the nerve to get offended when I gave it back to him duct-taped back together. The thing feel apart on me while I was reading it! :p

Heh. I don't like to use anything on my books though I did put a small piece of tape on the inside cover of a book that I'm reading now because it picked up a tear in the back cover. Not sure how that happened but it probably occured in transit in my rather pliable carry-on bag.

If I borrow a book, of course I take care of it to the point of it frankly being difficult to read - I try not to crease the spine, fold the corners, handle it with wet hands, etc.

But my own books? I damage the hell out of them, because they're mine and I actually like the look of a well-worn paperback. I had to re-glue my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone because it was falling apart, and several other favorite books don't fare much better. I also have a habit of folding corners instead of using bookmarks, and setting books face-down and open on tables.

I love books incredibly, and I feel that a worn and somewhat damaged book is - from my own experience, as the only books that appear damaged in my bookshelf are the ones I've read over, and over, and over again - a well-loved one.

Heh... my manga does not last around me. I use it for drawing reference so if there is an image that I like and need I will rip it out so that I can lay it on a flat surface. This is why websites like manga fox were a god send to me.

Actually thinking about it Sheol, Duct tape would annoy me too. I always use clear tape when I need to repair things. I still like to be able to look at a book, not matter the shape. Packing tape works nicely, even if it's a titch frustrating to deal with at times. ;)

I hate hate hate getting mine all bent up, but I don't like, freak out if I do. I groan or whatever when I accidentally bend the cover or a page, but I never purposefully fold it or anything like that. It's more because they're easier to keep on a shelf if they're in good condition more than anything. >3<'

I work at Office Depot and sometimes people will bring in a book and have it bound, but we have to cut off the spine, first. I won't do it, I make someone else do it cause it makes me cringe. XD

Office Depot rebinds books?

Nah, not really. Spiral binding. People usually come in with music or cooking books and have us spiral bind them, but we gotta cut off the spine first.

Ah. Right. Makes sense actually, so that they lie flat. I like music sheets for that reason.

I wouldn't stand it either Azrael, I would cry but for me if the spine is in such a bad condition that it needs to be spiral-bound then it reminds me of a transplant that it would help the book. But if the book is super new and they want it spiral-bound then I would let someone else do it

when I get a new paper back I freak out if the cover's bent out of place, I kill my brother if he flips through it just to get it worn down a bit. so no I don't think you're weird

I've started doing some basic bending to work the spine a bit so it doesn't crease obviously or otherwise get a damaged spine. Something my mom showed me. Apparently her mother was actually tought how to open books in school since most of what they had were hardcover and the spine could be damage or compromised if they weren't worked properly before reading. It basically involves strategically placed creases so no one part gets overworked or something. How to be picky, 101. ;)

i feel ashamed to call myself a bibliophile next to you lot, i dog-ear and crease spines and have occasionally kept my pages with things too thick not to hurt it(like cards) i set them down anywhere and loan them out, i all but consume library books in nearly any state, and i love them all, i don't mind if a book has a broken spine or has yellowed, i adore the smell of a 20 year old book with more checkouts than i had oppertunities to say 'check out' i have no preference for either a brand-new stiff paperback and a floppy hardcover from the fifties, each and every book has a personality to me just /because/ of it's wear, i think the only exceptions i make is to tears, those make me want to cry, a tear is like a scar, a missing page is like dismemberment, a lack of cover is like a third degree burn to the face of the book, that makes me sad and i so dislike it and try not to do it myself to the point where i have re-bound books that are broken and refused to read or hold books with sheafs missing, but that is my only reluctance, i just love books too much, like a man who has seen the world and whose body shows it a well loved book /should/ show a little of it's life on the pages


books may not be alive in the traditional sense of the word but a book still has 'life' in it and a lonely life of ginger fingers and almost never being read is a sad one for sure


~edit~ johnny's last paragraph is exactly what i am talking about

The last time i checked out a book was last year. I don't really care much about the condition of library books, I treat them like my own, as long as the book ends up being unreadable and missing pages then I'm fine with damaged goods.

thats not odd at all, ive been known to do that with the few books i care about, im not a big reader,but the ones i do read, i take insane care of.

I do that as well, I rarely read but when I do it's a manga and I take extremely insane care of my mangas like they are my offsprings

I got my book wet today...
I was reading after swimming in the pool.
; A ;

Such a tragedy!

Did you dry yourself off before you touched the book?