Bright Young Things discussion

Thoughts about book hunts

The Bookshop: Chapel Hill

They surround me now and how I adore them.
My books, archived over 25 years, my obsession.

The thrill of the hunt in a maze of shelves possessed me as if my corporeal Self was inhabited by the spirit of “Bookman” the eternal searcher.
In these aisles the history of the world awaits.
Without gun or bow I chase down fugitive tomes
Armed only with the bones of my tingling fingers
Electrified by a rush of anticipation, shooting sparks.
What treasures await me in this dust that measures time.
Do I want a rhyming dictionary, mystery fiction, poems or plays or literary criticism?
What itch will I scratch today?
I know! Check my wish list.
(I used to tell Bill, the proprietor, that I was a geek bearing lists.)
My doctor’s handwriting required decoding.
The scratchy scrawls seemed to say:
Huxley, Isherwood, Auden, T. Wilder, S.V. Benet, MacLeish, and much more.
This beast of a list was worn, wrinkled, fraying, having stayed in my left pocket for months as a map and guide.
It steers me to “Authors H” and I play in that aisle like a child in F.A.O. Schwartz with books instead of toys.
My nose itches and I sneeze. Did I mention I am allergic to dust? Geez I am an addicted masochist.
But I persevere. The thrill of the hunt is a pseudo Benadryl.
I run my right index finger along the top shelf and it ploughs the dust into a small hill.
Then, lightning strikes:
My aforementioned index finger teams with the adjacent thumb to form a pincer animated by an adrenaline surge.
I see it—the thin spine with the top and bottom frayed from a history of many hands:
In a split second my mind’s eye is filled with the ephemerally fleeting ghosts of owners past.
Did they feel once as I do now?
Who were they and which one in particular left this treasure here for me to find?
The pincer pulls it from its perch:
The Crows of Pearblossom,
Aldous Huxley’s one and only illustrated story for children: First edition with the original dust jacket having just a few nicks and slightly faded.
I don’t care:
To me the book is resplendently perfect, blinding me despite the shadowy environs in the deep corners of this dark netherworld—
The Bookshop: a cave of dreams.

Did you write that David? It's a beautiful use of language.

As for book collecting...there is one amazing secondhand book shop about an hours drive from where I live - Barter Books in Alnwick Northumberland - which is built in a disused Victorian railway station. A stunning place packed with unusual books and with a model train running overhead. There are open fires and comfy chairs. The old waiting rooms are now cafes and seating areas. It's a great place to rummage and I could spend hours there.

Apart from that, most of my book collecting gets done online these days...don't underestimate the pleasure of online book rummaging! I find online rummaging especially useful if I want to read several books on one topic or theme as there are many many good suggestions to explore. I love that there is now the option to purchase second hand online and that smaller booksellers can benefit from sales via the larger online selling platforms.

I tend to have to buy second hand or I'd risk bankruptcy! My book to shelf ratio means little piles of books all over my house, under beds, on every surface! Books are a bit of an addiction!

Thanks
Yes, I wrote it, I have a volume of verse coming out sometime this year: Permutations Among the Nightingales, the title is from an A. Huxley short work from 1923. I love Huxley. Knew his second wife briefly and I am literary advisor to the principal heir of his literary estate. He changed my life more so as a philosopher and exponent of The Perennial Philosophy, from which I developed a literary theory that I published about: If interested I would be happy to send you a copy of my first book Aldous Huxley and W.H. Auden on Language (1998)

I can relate:

I tend to have to buy second hand or I'd risk bankruptcy! My book to shelf ratio means little piles of books all over my house, under beds, on every surface! Books are a bit of an addiction!

I came to books later in life, I was too busy experiencing life to read about somebody else's. I now understand the draw and for me the quietness of reading as if nothing else is important at the moment in in time.
Like you Ally our books where everywhere, we moved house to help accommodate them!! Is that wrong? We intended to create a 'library' in one of the reception rooms, still work in progress, thankfully it's a solid concrete floor!
Ally wrote of Barter Books, I called in whilst away golf playing in the Scottish Borders. It is a wonderful experience. Ally was the Labrador there sprawled out in front of the coal fire?
I bought a couple of Wm Le Queux books circa 1902 from there, where else would I get them?
Collecting books, if my partner has two of anything she starts a collection!!
We used to have good secondhand bookshop locally but he is now retired. There are a couple of converted mills within a short drive away where people have stalls with all manner objects and items you can buy. You can find the odd sort after book there, but mainly seen as collectibles and antiques and you run the risk of buying some West German pottery instead!! eek.

Ally wrote: "Did you write that David? It's a beautiful use of language.

As for book collecting...there is one amazing secondhand book shop about an hours drive from where I live - Barter Books in Alnwick Nort..."

forgot to mention I have about 200 antiquarian books signed by the authors--I love feeling their aura in my study/library.

Michael wrote: "I can to books later in life, I was too busy experiencing life to read about somebody else's. I now understand the draw and for me the quietness of reading as if nothing else is important at the mo..."

I was an avid reader when I was a teenager, then a very serious resurgence in my 40s.

I grew up in a house full of books.

There Is one not so good book store in this town. How bad is it - I haven't bothered to go there yet and I have been here a year and 3/4. Better to drive the 25 miles to Asheville where they have (I've heard) an excellent used book store and a Barnes & Noble.

But coming up this spring they will be having a big used book sale. Last week I noticed they had put boxes out at the grocery stores for donations. So I'll have to take my donations over, too. Something to look forward to. Last year I kept purchases down to 1 tote bag and $20. But I generally have to be careful to go late in the week for it, when it is cheaper and the choice isn't as good.