Jeanette Winterson
I am not sure I could describe myself as a collector of books, although I do experience a bit the obsession she describes. I find it very hard to walk past a book shop without going in to have a browse. To hold books, turn them over, flick through them.
I always look up which bookshops are nearby when I visit a new town or city and generally make an effort to visit them (a bit like art galleries). Need versus desire gets tested a lot; and so often a book you didn't even know existed o r had never heard of catches your eye and it must go home with you.
We tend to circulate and move our books along and around so I never feel like I really own them - altho a lot of art books I purchase I feel are part of a collection; or perhaps simply a library.
I agree wholeheartedly that it is not a hobby; it is definitely a fascination, an absurdity, an obsession...
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Books in our hotel room in Ullapool 2019, with a reminder that these plus more could be found in theyr bookshop, and even more in their Library. Such a bibliophile place to stay!
my happiest work days were spent unboxing books that had been bought with someone else money ;)
ReplyDeletePart of my brain explodes thinking about how good that must have been!
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