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why people kept books?
She mentioned several reasons, but two stuck out with me:
1. We like to display our knowledge to others.
2. We're enamored of the look of books -- the different colors, the sizes, etc.
I don't think people are impressed with stuffed bookcases ------ that is, maybe some are, but I'm not sure it's ever mattered to me. Either people are bookish or they aren't, you know?
One reason to keep books is homage: I have an entire Stephen King collection, I think it's everything. Also Dick Francis (it's really good writing, IMO).
Another is you can't get some books so easily anymore, certainly not on e-books: certain translations of Dante, certain poetry collections, etc. WHICH translations one has is very important: the Illiad, for instance (try Lattimore).
As for keeping books because one shouldn't dispose of them ----------- it's no longer an issue of cost OR rarity for many commonly available books. So I'm thinking, the rule for life regarding "stuff" is "Into, Thru, and Out." Things are so cheap now! So plentiful. So I do throw out or send off to other places books popular fiction that isn't very good or I won't read again. Digital is essentially no storage, at least if the computer or Reader doesn't crash.
I think the Depression mentality is still haunting us, and I'm fighting it with digital books. Into, Thru, and Out. At least for common, generally available books.
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