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Making an inventory of old friends
2009.06.16
Teenage reading - when I thought I could actually understand this or that it would help me have more (OK, any) sex.
The horizontal one was there to console me when I eventually realised how wrong that was.
The horizontal one was there to console me when I eventually realised how wrong that was.
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The big red one is the Iliad in the original - still an extraordinary read
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Old, old friends - except for the new ones, of course
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Undergrad reading (the ones I actually had to buy, as opposed to knicking them out of the university library)
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I spent an evening arguing with Prof. Walcott. Needless to say, he won.
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Maths and science
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History
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Music
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What I really read, once I've stopped trying to impress visitors. I'm addicted to Astérix, Tintin and Lucky Luke comics.
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There's a very long-running radio show in the UK called "Desert Island Discs" when the guest is asked to imagine what s/he would take if stuck on a desert island. My answer's easy. I've had a copy of Herodotus' The Histories by my bedside since I was twelve.
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Part of a rotating bookcase
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More of the same
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A close second after Herodotus (disqualified owing to weight) is the entire OED, 1921 edition, with four pages printed per page in two volumes and a big square magnifying glass
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Some of the tools of my trade. As a translator, I tend to avoid dictionaries wherever possible, but they do tend to accumulate. I remember spending the equivalent of hundreds of Euros for the black one in order to find one lexeme. This doesn't happen to normal people. Luckily for my bank balance, the internet now provides quite a lot of information.
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Title sounds rather sinister, doesn't it? Well, obviously it's not the case.
I suffer from a strange affliction: every time I see someone reading, I have to go and ask what it is. It doesn't matter whether it's poetry, a stock market report, a letter from a loved one or whatever, whether it's in a language I can read or one I can't, I just have to know. My affliction has got me into all sorts of trouble - and I've also made some good and/or bizarre friends in the process.
One of the first things I do when I go to a friend's house the first time is check out the books. Alas, no one will be able to do this anymore at my house, as I have begun the long, tedious and heart-rending processes of boxing everything. Perhaps this explains the obsession with a non-bendy panorama. I wanted to get it right before I took it all down.
The problem is compounded by relatively high ceilings in Greece, which I'm pretty sure I won't find in France (unless I rent a castle). That bookcase is just over 3 metres tall. And I hate sawing things off.
It also dawned on me that I didn't need to do an inventory. All I need is a counter calibrated to the image files and it's done. You get some of the images cropped without the counter.
And now I'm sure, after the picture postcards of Greece and the nudes, you can't wait to see all images of the 1200-odd CDs in my classical music collection!
I suffer from a strange affliction: every time I see someone reading, I have to go and ask what it is. It doesn't matter whether it's poetry, a stock market report, a letter from a loved one or whatever, whether it's in a language I can read or one I can't, I just have to know. My affliction has got me into all sorts of trouble - and I've also made some good and/or bizarre friends in the process.
One of the first things I do when I go to a friend's house the first time is check out the books. Alas, no one will be able to do this anymore at my house, as I have begun the long, tedious and heart-rending processes of boxing everything. Perhaps this explains the obsession with a non-bendy panorama. I wanted to get it right before I took it all down.
The problem is compounded by relatively high ceilings in Greece, which I'm pretty sure I won't find in France (unless I rent a castle). That bookcase is just over 3 metres tall. And I hate sawing things off.
It also dawned on me that I didn't need to do an inventory. All I need is a counter calibrated to the image files and it's done. You get some of the images cropped without the counter.
And now I'm sure, after the picture postcards of Greece and the nudes, you can't wait to see all images of the 1200-odd CDs in my classical music collection!
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Comments
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well, rent a castle then. there is plenty of them in france... ;-) blasphemous thought... have you ever considered throwing away some of these old books? ;-)
stormfish · 2009-06-16: 07:11
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like #9 a lot
taniamindi · 2009-06-16: 07:26
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I am of the opinion that one can never have too many books. Fortunately for the state of my house, I have moved to ebooks. What can be better then carrying your library with you?
thebronzebow · 2009-06-16: 11:07
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Interesting as always, great post.
joycephotography · 2009-06-16: 11:41
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I like the fact that you can weave story around books (sorry, no pun intended). Like you, I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to books - the idea of discarding them just seems unbearable.
davids · 2009-06-16: 13:05
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Great library, I envy you being able to read the Illiad in Greek and Tintin in French.
yellodog · 2009-06-16: 14:21
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I look - and scroll - and read: "Oh, how impessing...Byron and Shelley, oh yes!...that i`ve read, too.... Never hard of that... Asterix, yeah!... Upps,ehat`s that..." II love to be invited for the first time for dinner, and while the hosts are busy in the kithen I read their shelves with an aperitif in my hand. In this case I sit at my laptop with a glass of wine after a very busy day and an evening with photofriends. Could be a good "theme of the week":Show me your books!" Of course I would ban Rosamunde Pilcher from my post...and all my professional social stuff...
daisydavinci · 2009-06-16: 16:54
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We are all hunters and gatherers, but I think you are more a gatherer...(lol)
Wasichseh · 2009-06-16: 17:13
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A tantalising and enviable collection...yes absolutely Herodotus 'Histories' and Shelley for me also. Can I make a suggestion...? Colin Renfrew; Figuring it out, the parallel visions of artists and archaeologists :-)
????? · 2009-06-16: 20:27
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I envy everyone their collections. I was never able to collect anything. As a lifelong member of military families, I was constrained by our constant moving and the strict weight allowance. I always had my library card though, and I truly believed the local library was an extension of my house. I do have a few of my own books now, but the habit is too great and I still borrow most of them.
????? · 2009-06-17: 13:32
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Wonderful collection. I love books too. I love taking pictures of books. I have never posted any of them, but i think there is something magical about them!
susjustjake · 2009-06-17: 14:26
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Having seen your amazing collection I feel very uneducated :( However, I still love reading my books and looking at them.
busybee36 · 2009-06-17: 15:18
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I enjoyed the music section most and the shelf with Donne's works. =D Once I wanted to count our books but didn't succeed.. I had to give up because there were piles and boxes of those books for which there was no room on the bookshelves in a 170 m2 flat.. and soon, we are moving into a 120 m2 flat but our friends promised to help us with some more bookshelves. ;)
Nellinka · 2009-06-18: 10:55
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When much younger and seeing someone's flat or house for the 1st time I like you always looked at their book and music collection. As I've grown older I am less judgemental although much of the looking was just curiosity. I always meant to read Pascal's Pensees in the original french but all I know of it is the famous quote 'La Coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait pas' I have kept books from my undergrad days too- it's hard to part with parts of your life like that. You are a well read, erudite guy and there's a clever woman out there, maybe nr Grass just waiting for you!
Lynda · 2009-06-25: 07:11
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Stefan, lovely photos! I did the same years ago and recently and tried to filed them, but hopelessly as they are thousands... I speak four languages (Italian-native, English, French, Spanish) mostly self-teaching, Latin and Ancient Greek ;-) gkiasu :-)
????? · 2009-06-28: 06:25
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P.S. Movings mean a lot, melancholy for a known life left behind and excitement for a new one starting... You are a well-read person, it seems. My best wishes for your future in France.
????? · 2009-06-28: 08:45
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