In Praise of Wreckless and Wanton Book-Buying

For all of you like me who can't  bring yourself to walk by a bookstore or browse an on-line catalog without buying at least something, and who also know good and well that you aren't going to read everything you buy, at least right now, here's an anecdote from the life of Umberto Eco that should give you encouragement to keep it up.

From the introduction of part one of The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb:

The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with "Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of these books have you read?" and the others -- a very small minority -- who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market allow you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary.

Via Kottke

Comments

[Gina Dalfonzo]

Love it!

[Chris Brauns]

Helpful. I should frame it and hang it on my wall. But, because of bookshelves, I have no free space.

I pray that you will feel well at the "PCA Vatican meeting."

[Miss Woodhouse]

Thanks so much for posting this- my "To Be Read" pile used to fill me with guilt, but now I can appreciate it!

I stumbled across your blog well over a year ago now, so I just want to say thanks so much for doing it. I'm going through a rough time in my Presbyterian Church, and often your blog is the only thing reminding me that I am still sane and God is still in His heaven. I thank God for you, and am praying for your complete healing. Blessings!

["lee n. field"]

Someone who understands. Please, tell my wife.