Hardcover or Paperback: My Elitism....

Maybe because I am an aspiring book collector (even though my financial means prohibit this severely) , or maybe it is because I prefer the heft of a hardcover book in my hands, I prefer hardcover novels to their lighter more manageable siblings the paperback. Although for someone who tends to carry their books around with them one would suspect that I am prone to paperbacks just for their sheer portability, but that is a negative. I own many paperback books and look at them in dismay longing for leather bound (yes... leather bound.. sorry I can only take my tree hugging bunny loving non animal cruelty self so far) hardcover editions. God forbid anything happen to any of my hardcover books, I would probably have an aneurysm, a coronary, and a small personal apocalypse if I ever lost one of these precious volumes and the memories associated with them.

Granted none of these books are probably collectors items, no real worth other than the price on their book jacket. But they each hold some form of memory. There is only one paperback, that was in my collection, that holds such a similar sway over my memory. The piece is no longer part of my collection, as I had gifted it to someone who meant..means... quiet a lot...(excuse me for saying this with some sort of sadness or apprehension.. this individual has currently removed themselves from my life......I'm digressing.) As cliche as it might sound the one book that held so much meaning and was read till it was falling to pieces and bound together with tape, was a brown covered tattered copy of JD Salinger's Catcher In The Rye. ( One might ask why I would part with such an important part of my collection... to this I will only answer.. that is between me and it's new owner who I don't know if he will ever read it or not, but it is with someone who I believe knows it's personal value to me.)

Except for my Salinger paperbacks, most of my paperback purchases these day are only books that only partially spark my interest, maybe something about their story has piqued my curiosity but not drawn me in enough to want to make it something that is a part of my personal collection. One such paperback that I can recall is The Road-Cormac McCarthy, this book, although praised so highly by many was pure drudgery to get through. It was far easier to get through The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, but still, it fell under quick classification of books I simply did not like. Those who know me know I do love my fair share of dystopian and apocalyptic tales but that book will not become permanent collection and has been relegated to paperback land.. a desolate shelf near the desk, holding books that may find themselves quickly loaned out or given away.

I am not sure why I prefer hardcover books to paperbacks, it's most likely because they look better on the bookshelf, maybe it is nothing more than aesthetics, maybe it's something more.. durability...endurance (shakes head).. no.. that is not the word... the give me.. something that seems far more tactile and persevering to leave behind than paperbacks....


-This has been another wonderful ramble of jumbled thoughts from the GeekyBookGirl Herself--

A Literary Survey I found Online.

1) What author do you own the most books by?

Jack Kerouac

2) What book do you own the most copies of?

I want to say that it was Catcher In The Rye

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?

Not at all, but if I had been a grammar nazi it might have.

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?

I'm torn between Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice and Zooey Glass from
Franny and Zooey

5) What book have you read the most times in your life?

Catcher In The Rye

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?

I was not much of a reader as a child, I was too busy with Nintendo games.

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?

The Road by Cormac McCarthy, there was just something in that book that
was disappointing and definitely was not the worse but close to..

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?

The Guide by R.K. Narayan which was a birthday gift from my partner.


9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?

If I could actually force anyone to read one book, they are like perfume they are not liked by all, but I would have to say The Last Lecture

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?

Since I have not kept up to date on who is being nominated for the Nobel Prize I cannot voice an opinion.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?

Honestly I worry about most books that have been turned into movies, there are too many liberties taken and the actual meaning of the book is lost for commercial gain. I fear what they will do to Gatsby by Fitzgerald when it is released.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?

Any book by Kerouac

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.

I have yet to have any weird or disturbing dreams involving a writer, book or literary character.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?

No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July... I just have not been able to get through it.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?

I am not much for actually watching plays.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?

I have a new found appreciation for the Russians.

18) Roth or Updike?

Updike, although it is unfair because I have not read enough Roth.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?

Sedaris, most definitely.

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?

Don't make me choose between any of the Holy Trinity :)

21) Austen or Eliot?

Austen

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?

I think the fact that I tend to get into books but get sidetracked easily at times that I don't finish most books that I would prefer to finish.

23) What is your favorite novel?

My absolute favorite no matter how cliche it is, Catcher in the Rye... followed perhaps by Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.. the idea behind struggling against your cultural identity was amazing.

24) Play?
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller

25) Poem?
Hymn to Intellectual Beauty by Percy Bysshe Shelley

26) Essay?

At this point I cannot say there is any essay that is my favorite

27) Short story?

I can think of Novellas, but not really short stories.

28) Work of non-fiction?

I guess I am not that well rounded of a reader, I am not a huge fan of non fiction though the autobiography of John Adams was good


29) Who is your favorite writer?

I am torn between Salinger, Kerouac and Steinbeck

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?

I can't say any author is really overrated, I think people have their personal preferences as to who they enjoy reading.

31) What is your desert island book?

Desert island book would definitely have to be my collection of Hemmingway's Short Stories.

32) And ... what are you reading right now?

I am currently reading Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup who wrote Slumdog Millionaire