Another 54 books gone; only many hundreds to go
Book Purge Twelve — September 4th 2016
With 54 books going this week — that’s right; 54 — it’s a real mixed bag, although I seem to have raided the science fiction shelves especially heavily. As ever, it represents a good cross-section of my interests and reading of the past few decades.
Oh well, lots of good books that have given me pleasure in the past but I shall not read again.
The Tolkien is an exception: The Lord Of The Rings trilogy did not give me pleasure. I tried about three or four times to read them/it but failed to get past the singing woodsman — Tom Boremetodeath or something — quite early on. I felt vindicated when the films skipped that episode, too. In my case, however, it was enough to put me off the books completely. Time they went — and off they go.
I enjoyed the Rowling/Galbraith crime books and I look forward to the next in the series. It doesn’t mean I need to keep hold of the first three to be able to enjoy the fourth. This, please note, is a breakthrough for me.
Richard Ford’s The Sportswriter is going only because I have another edition. I’m not going crazy here.
And that’s this week’s report from the front line of book purgeville. It is getting easier with each week. I’m at the stage now where I wonder what the hell have I been doing holding on to all these books. Insulation? Padded room syndrome? Who knows.
Three new books arrived this week:
Ian McEwan — Nutshell (a birthday present to myself)
James Rebanks — The Shepherd’s Life: A Tale of the Lake District (a present from my daughters)
Richard Davenport-Hines — Universal Man: The Seven Lives of John Maynard Keynes (another present from my daughters)
So it’s not all one way traffic at the moment. Just more out than in, which is probably best in the long term.
