Books

I was a young reader and loved reading books as a child.  I always needed more books to read.  The first document I ever owned was a library card.By the time I was 12, I had read the entire family encyclopedia of 25 volumes and several of my parents' saved textbooks.  I had gone through the entire local library's "young adult" section (defined as age 12-15 or something close to that).  I had to get permission from my parents and the librarian to check out more adult books.

My parents approved, but I vaguely recall the librarian asking questions about the difference between information and fiction.  I don't recall my answers the least bit, but apparently, when it was clear I understood the difference between William and Clark exploring Western North America and Isaac Asimov and Buck Rogers, I was allowed to read more adult books. 

In the years afterwards, I spent a LOT of money buying both science fiction AND information books.  So I love books and cherish the enjoyment of reading and the real information at my fingertips.

10 years ago, I packed half of my sci-books into boxes  to clear some shelf space.  It was the half I thought the least of.  A few years ago, I went through my shelves and removed those "information books"I thought had little value.  Those got tossed after I learned the local library didn't want my kind of books.

I've started a de-clutterring project.  Today, I went through the information books and tossed most of them into the recycling bin and put more in boxes in the garage because the recycling bin was filled. 

The era of information books is over.  The internet provides all the information I can use.  I skimmed through many of the books and I couldn't find anything in them that wasn't easier to find on the internet.  Basically, the internet (in this regard) is a bigger faster library a few keywords away. 

And books go obsolete so quickly sometimes.  Or even were decades ago.  I looked at one World History book and it was written in 1937!  So I got brutal about it.  Any information book that seemed overcome by new information (historical, scientific, or repair) went. 

I kept books like 'The Peter Principle' and 'Murphy's Laws' and 'Flatland' and Human and Cat evolution.  And those may go in the some future weeding.

Six 3' shelves became one.  Some I'll keep because their information doesn't age much (backyard landscaping projects or linguistic explanations).  And some books went because I'm not sure why I bought them in the first place. 

But I bet I tossed out books that cost me $5,000 originally.  And a shelf of National Geographic maps; Google does that better.    I got rid of 10 years of various magazines a few months ago.  I got rid of books of Poe stories and Kipling verses.  I even tossed al dozen Ayn Rand books I thought I would read and never did after 20 years.

I hesitated before doing this today, but I thought about the last time I did a few years ago and couldn't recall a single book of them.  Obviously, I did not miss them.  I bet I won't miss these either. 

It was hard to start tossing them, but easy to continue once I realized I wasn't losing information, just accepting that there was a better way to get at it that didn't fill up physical bookcases.

OK, so books had their time.  I guess I just went screaming and kicking into the 21st century today.  One day centuries ago, a storyteller started reciting a memorized tale of some hero, and the King said "I have that book, and others.  You're fired".

Things change.  And I'm not done tossing books.  The recycle bin is mostly filled and very heavy.  So tomorrow I'll pile more in boxes and stack them in the garage for the next recycle pickup.  I'm keeping every sci book I own.  Those don't actually become obsolete. 

Ender's Game

In a sci-fi world of the future, some evolved ant-like Beings left their homeworld to establish a colony on a suitable planet in another solar system.  That world was Earth and it was occupied.  After a war, they retreated.

The Earthlings felt threatened and decided to fight the invaders (the only intelligent beings they had ever met).  To that end, they trained and tested all sorts of young humans, seeking the best natural war-generals.  To make a long story short, they eventually found a youth with unusual strategic and tactical skills.

His name was Ender.  He succeeded at the military games in the academy by unusual tactics.  Slowly he learned strategic skills.  But he had odd dreams of the Enemy.

After successes at the academy, he was brought to the advanced training center where he was challenged in harder ways, but always succeeding. 

I know the story from the book, but I saw it as a movie a few nights ago.  Movies seldom present the nuances of a book, but this one did at least a B grade.

In the book, Ender advanced slowly through all the training sessions successfully until the end.  The Enemy was not much presented or understood.  In the movie, the Enemy was often shown and even explained.

In both, Ender is presented with increasingly more complex battles until the Government is convinced he can be a Battle-General.

In the book and in the movie, there are points where the reader/viewer can see the truth of the situation.  But there is a difference.  In the book, the moment of truth sneaks up very gradually.  In the movie, it is pretty obvious. 

I remember reading the book.  There is one spot where you suddenly, horrifyingly, realize that Ender (without his knowledge, thinking he is engaged in just another training simulation) destroys the Enemy completely and utterly.  He destroys an alien race not knowing that his "battle" is real.  And you, the reader, know before he does.

Few stories raise the hairs on my arms and neck; that one did.  The sudden understanding that the simulation was reality was a shock.  I have only felt that way with one story before (The Star).

They did a reasonable job of it in the movie, but of course nuance is not a movie trait.  Ender's discovery that he had destroyed the Enemy in what he thought was a training session was presented a bit too suddenly.  The book gave gradual hints; the movie just thrust the fact on you.

But most movies made from books are worse.  If the book was an A+, the movie was an A-.  Compared to other book-to-movie attempts, that's not bad.  Consider either version of Dune, or Howard The Duck, Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Alice In Wonderland, and How The Grinch Stole Christmas movies.

I'd watch Ender's Game again.

And BTW, I met Orson Scott Card once before he was famous.  He was a speaker at a conference.  He had a routine called "The Speaker On The Monitor" (I think) and it was hilarious.  It was back in the days of computer greenscreens and was a rif on biblical chapters (no disrespect meant - simply humor).  Like he would refer to the god of the computer and make the sign of the monitor (fingers shaping a square).  I actually shook his hand afterwards.   

I also met Issac Asimov once at a college presentation, but he seemed dead drunk.  Not like I could be sure, being a bit high myself at the time.  But he was beet red-faced and slurred as he spoke, and he made no sense at all.  Meeting famous people sometimes isn't all that good.

So read the book 'Ender's Game' and get the real story.

Why Do I have Books?

Why do I have books?

I had to really ask myself that question today.  And the answer is "because I used to read voraciously" and "because I am very information-oriented".  I am the reason bookstores used to exist.  More succinctly, I grew up "pre-internet and pre-cableTV" and needed books if I wanted information or entertainment.  I used to come home from work, make dinner and then sit in a chair reading a book with a cat on my lap (back in the days of Mischief, Cat Ballou, and Sport-Sport).

I spent 50 years collecting books on varieties of subjects.  I have 60 linear feet of science fiction books, for example.  I also have nearly as many books on science, history, cooking, gardening, philosophy, evolution, fishing, nature, cats, geography, general reference, etc.  OMG, I even have a 3' long set of 40 year old encyclopedias!  What possible value do those have today when the internet is at my fingertips?  They do look impressive though...

But because I decided not to move, I thought it would be a good idea to de-clutter the house and make it look more open.  One thing I realized was that I seldom read books anymore.  So the first project was to reduce all the bookshelf display space. 

I was astonished at how much sci-fi I had.  I was also astonished to realize that I hadn't the slightest idea of the plot of at least half of them.  I packed those into 7 boxes for storage (I can't get myself to simply dispose of them, though I may donate them to some worthy cause later).  I kept the rest, but double-shelved them in the computer room bookcases to save space. 

Then I moved most of the information books from the living room bookcases to the newly-freed computer room bookcase shelves.  I could probably pack up most of those too, but I at least want to display my interests, and even with the internet, many of them are still useful.

The living room bookcases will become mostly for decoration and display.  I have some sets of books that are either valuable (anyone ever heard of "Real Books" or "All About Books"?), presentable (like the uniform 20something book set of gardening and the similiar fishing and hunting set - both from those "once a month" subscription series popular in the 1980s), or impressive (like Winston Churchill's 6 volume series about WWII).

[Speaking of Churchill, I have to mention one of my favorite anecdotes.  Churchill was seated at a fancy dinner party next to a stuffy old dowager who intensely disapproved of him.  At one pointed she hissed "Winston, if you were my husband, I would poison you".  To which Churchill famously (and immediately) replied "Madame, if I were your husband, I would let you".  Damn, I wish I could think that fast!]

Well, anyway, back to the books...  Almost all of the non-decorative books are in the computer room (my cookbooks are staying near the kitchen).   Some of the books I discovered I owned amazed me.  Books on magic tricks, odd things to do with common household items, Gray's Anatomy, World Almanacs, Twain's 'Life On The Mississippi', the collected works of Edgar Allan Poe,  college textbooks from the 1970s.  Just amazing stuff.

I might even start reading again...