Member: GreenOregon

Mmhm. Okay, so that explains why you had it in the 6th grade; it doesn't quite explain why you still have it, though, does it :)

It is a bit dubious whether you can separate the idea of someone whose books matter to them from the idea of their library. Books are basically physical manifestations of a person's interests, and it would be absurd to say that you could separate a personality from its interests and leave it still the same personality. So: separate me from my library? Metaphysically, I doubt it's possible; and literally, well, you had just better not try it, 'cause that would make me mad.

I think I've seen some of those pictures before, not of the house but of the table and chairs. If it's what I've seen, the guy who makes them is amazing: everything in his house is made of wood, astonishingly intricately carved into books and beds and cars and more. I haven't thought of making a house of books - it would take rather a lot - but I was thinking of putting my bed on books. I like low, minimalist beds, just a mattress on a low dais sort of thing, so I was thinking I'd like a bed on a low platform supported by short columns of books. Haven't done it yet, but I like the idea. What would your house be like, though?

And, finally, yeah, it sucks not to be able to indulge your book-habit. Be patient: it takes time to build a library. I've been working on mine for a decade. But Erasmus set a good example, too: "When I get a little money," he said, "I buy books; and if there is any left, I buy food and clothes."

posted by jnicholas at 3:52 am (EST) on May 1, 2007

Hi. So: Infinite in all Directions, Jesus in the Margins, Lonely Planet: Arabian Peninsula, Hyperspace, Wendell Berry, Schizophrenia and the DSM-IV - and Geri Halliwell? I mean, you've got a fascinating selection of books, and you must be an interesting person, but (well, because of that, really) Geri Halliwell's memoirs calls for some explanation, don't you think?

posted by jnicholas at 5:44 am (EST) on Apr 27, 2007