Having just moved and having unpacked my burgeoning library, finally, I get to put some new purchases that have been kicking around onto the shelf. Of course I am thinking about Benjamin’s “Unpacking my Library”, which can be found in Illuminations.
And the non reading of books, you will object, should be characteristic of collectors? This is news to me, you may say. It is not news at all. Experts will bear me out when I say that it is the oldest thing in the world. Suffice it to quote the answer which Anatole France gave to a philistine who admired his library and then finished with the standard question, “And you have read all these books, Monsieur France?” “Not one-tenth of them. I don’t suppose you use your Sèvres china every day?”
So when I go to make comments on these books, you must realize that I haven’t read all of them, and may not for quite a long while.
Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization. Vintage (used).
There is another edition of this from Routledge, and I would have rather had that one in order to match my copy of On the Order of Things. On the other hand, this one matches my copy of Discipline and Punish, so what am I going to do? Have read half way through; I find Foucault can go off the rails on occasion, but you have to hold on to get to the good parts.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Confessions. Everyman (new). 
I got this at overstock price, and it is wrapped in plastic, so I have been resistant in opening it. It matches a nice copy of The Idiot that Xuan-Yen gave me, although that one has a wonderful picture on the cover.
Jacobs, Jane. Cities and the Wealth Of Nations. Random House. (Used, first edition, my book looks much better than this picture, and I dislike when I can’t find a correct Amazon image)
I have a copy of her Dark Age Ahead, which was short and interesting. I’ve also read The Life and Death of Great American Cities, which I loved at the beginning but I felt dragged as it went on. I didn’t know this was a first edition when I bought it, but with what little bibliographic knowledge I have, it is hard cover, and there is only one printing listed, so I am pretty sure no one has read this since it was published.
Derrida, Jacques. Of Grammatology, Johns Hopkins. (new)
What can I say? The book that started it all, really. I’ve read and own quite a number of his works, but I have always felt something was missing without this one. Even the Translator’s Preface, which I’ve worked through, was enjoyable. Although the real task lies ahead, which I approach with a little trepidation.
de Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America. Perennial. (used)
I don’t know how I feel about this edition. I have a very old used edition of the first part of the work which I got free from discards of a book sale. I didn’t have an entire edition, but sometimes, you know, you get a book home and you dislike the smell of the pages—and this is how I feel about this one. Important book, though, good to know how much reading and political participation the average American was involved in.
Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, Shambhala (used)
The Diamond Sutra & The Sutra of Hui-Neng Shambhala (used)
An exception to my above quotation about not reading books right away, when it comes to religious texts, particularly Buddhism, I always dive right in. I find I particularly enjoy reading Buddhism on the subway, especially when I read about the Bodhisattva, or the Buddhist saint. Hui-Neng was the Sixth Patriarch of Zen (Chan) in China. I had forgotten about him from my Chinese Philosophy class, and the stanza which won him the robe, begging bowl and the transmission of the dharma. His competitor had wrote:
Our body is the bodhi tree And our mind a mirror bright Carefully we wipe them hour by hour, And let no dust alight.
The Fifth Patriarch was less then impressed. Hui-Neng, a foreigner, was forced to pound rice and was not allowed to attend dharma teachings. In secret he wrote his own stanza on the wall:
There is no bodhi tree, Nor stand of a mirror bright, Since all is void, Where can the dust alight?
I think after reading Buddhism it allows me the opportunity to meditate at being content with my current situation, both personally and professionally.
I cannot read books that smell off in the least. I get too distracted and end up sniffing the book non-stop. That being said, I get distracted too by books if the pages don’t feel right, the quality of paper is too poor, the cover is sticky from those “due date”/price stickers librarians used to use, etc. As far I am concerned reading is an all consuming act and engages all my senses. Well maybe not taste…
AS for your Foucault “dilemna”, you know you’re probably going to end up with a Routledge edition at some point. It’s not like you don’t like to have multiple editions of certain books. ;)
August 21st, 2006, at 2:04 pm #Actually, I don\\’t know if I enjoy the book enough to buy more than one. It is good, but I wouldn\\’t call it a classic. I have about 5 various copies of the Republic, all different translations. And two copies of Kant\\’s Religion Within the Limits of Pure Reason, and you saw me buy those two copies of McLuhan\\’s Understanding Media within 2 weeks. Why? Because one was hardcover, and the other was cited more often.
Crazy, I know.
August 21st, 2006, at 3:19 pm #Yeah yeah. Not crazy per say. We are personally driven to obsess over certain things a certain way, and it makes sense for you to have multiple copies of x book. I mean look at my mother and her need to stockpile aluminum and my desire to collect more kitchen stuff/food.
August 21st, 2006, at 4:03 pm #But I think that those are consumables. We will eventually run out of foil or Fleur de sel, and it is good to have extra. But how many ragged, street discovered, badly translated copies of a book do I need.
Although I like that Borges essay where he examines all the different copies of the Arabian Nights, good and bad.
August 21st, 2006, at 4:08 pm #Yes some(Shayna’s parents are still using toilet paper from Shayna’s grandmother that used to work for a toiletry company. 15 years ago.) but as far I am concerned bowls are not consumables. We need more bowls and utensils, for my “extravagent” dinner parties. Look at my chopstick and chopstick holder collection.
Books break down. And also books can be passed down and shared with others. Think about it. Someone will stumble upon your many translations of the Republic and will see it as an amazing fine. So there is a utility factor.
That being said I am sure some people will think you are crazy. But then again I think people are crazy for being subsribers to People magazine and In Touch.
August 21st, 2006, at 4:36 pm #You know what is crazy? My image of a little old lady stealing truckloads of toilet paper.
August 21st, 2006, at 4:38 pm #