TORONTO—The pile of books and magazines next to my bedside table finally started to recede over the past few weeks. I finished a few books, an issue of The New Yorker, and the 150th anniversary edition of The Atlantic. Thinking I’d completed a rather momentous task, I quickly went online to see what else I could put on my reading list.
A book is published somewhere in the world roughly every 30 seconds. That’s another four books in the time it took me to walk in the kitchen and pour another cup of tea. By the time you’re done reading this, there will be another seven or eight. Though I am optimistic pessimist at heart, I’m guessing that one of those three books will be decent and the rest mediocre, if not outright dreadful.
And then, on top of the two books that were just published a minute ago, there’s even more to peruse online. In April, the blog aggregator Technorati tracked approximately 70 million blogs. I can also go online and read archival content from newspapers to journals to the over 100,000 titles at Project Gutenberg.
As a history student I’ve always held the belief that the more things humans record and published for all to see, the better a society would become through the education and the propagation those new ideas. Now, I’m starting to change my mind. There’s just too much out there. Where do all these books go?
Conveniently, a little bit of googling found an article in The Guardian that tells us where the books no one reads actually go — in the UK, at least. The article describes the British Library’s need to construct a massive warehouse that will house books with low circulation. This actually reminded me of the seed ark that was constructed somewhere safe and mysterious — Svalbard, Norway — where samples of the world’s seeds will be stored for future generations (or aliens, or what have you).
What would aliens actually think of our race if they came upon a mass storage facility that housed all the world’s unwanted/unused books? Imagine a well-researched thesis written by a little green being that investigates the everyday life of a human family from the perspective of a V.C. Andrews novel. Eww.
Think of poor old Leonard at the end of Howard’s End, crushed to death by his own bookcases. Mark Twain said “the man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.” It’s true — is having more things to read necessarily a good thing? Or does it just hamper us from finding the good among the bad?
Sky Goodden: This is startling, refreshing, overdue, and damn good. Thank you, Shary.
Mark: It’s not just in Canada, it seems all over artists don’t get the local recogtnition they should. I was in Malaga where Picasso was born and it is much different, but then he is...
Seenloitering: The “gender analysis” in this article is upside down. Marie Calloway is a threat to the status quo because she threatens the myth that women are morally superior, above...
Jefry: I do not really like to read a story like a novel or a real story but I think this is very interesting and need to be read
Guest: I didn’t want babies or a period any more. I KNEW without a doubt I did not want children so I had been asking for a hysterectomy since I was 19. I finally got it at 39. My...
Djzklj: Pretty interesting article, despite that I don’t wanna make a voyage there
Sanyo Seiki: I love this game! Very addicted! Sanyo Seiki
Anonymous: People are so disconnected from reality these days, it seems like the only thing that matters to them is materialism and celebrity gossip, disgusting! http://poemti.me
Anonymous: This is great news considering America dropped their space program. http://poemti.me
Piper Nunnery: Legacy of Pop Art – Is it avant-garde or is it kitsch? Well, depending on how one sees it. If it’s done with a tasteful out of the box and innovative idea, then it...