I Like Big Bookstacks and I Cannot Lie
There is a word in Japanese for the act of buying books that you don’t read: tsundoku. I love that this word exists because buying books I don’t read is the one wasteful thing I do without an ounce of guilt. I wring by hands over a leaf of uneaten lettuce, but I buy e-books willy nilly. I buy paper books without a care in the world. I like words, even the ones I don’t consume. I’m okay with the books that go unread.
And I like that the article points out that “while this might sound like tsundoku is being used as an insult, Prof Gerstle said the word does not carry any stigma in Japan.”
Because it shouldn’t.
I always have the intention of reading the book when I make the purchase. It’s usually a very immediate need with the thought that I will start the book after I complete the one I’m reading.
Patrick Melrose is a case in point. I purchased it in Edinburgh, marveling that the Edward St. Aubyn books cost a lot less in the UK than they do in America. I am ravenous to read these books. BUT. They are still sitting unread on my side table because two books I was waiting for at the library came available, so I had to read those first. And I still need to read the third book in the trilogy I was reading before I left for Scotland. So Patrick Melrose is still unread, though I have high hopes that I’ll get to him soon. Though sometimes the whim to read something never comes back even though it was strong when I made the purchase.
Still, I’ll never regret owning a very inexpensive copy of Patrick Melrose. Even if I never learn the ins and outs of his heroin addiction.
I’ve never counted the unread books, but I assume they number close to 100 at this point. Maybe more? We have a lot of bookcases.
Do you engage in tsundoku? What is one of your current unreads?
7 comments
Every single thing you wrote here resonates with me, Mel (right down to wringing my hands over uneaten lettuce, lol). I’ve always said, some people spend their money on cigarettes and alcohol… we spend our money on books. 😉 I probably own more books that I haven’t read than those I have right now, particularly since I got rid of so many (both read & unread) when we moved. Yes, they probably number in the hundreds. And I do intend to get around to reading them all. Someday… 😉
I agree that money spent on books is not wasteful. I have War and Peace staring at me…just trying to get the courage to dive into that one.
I feel really guilty if I buy books and don’t read them. I have one unread hard copy, I think, last bought for my book club. Though it’s easier to buy e-books. I have several waiting to be read. I try not to buy unless I’m ready top read. Instead of buying, I add to my already extensive To-Read List on Goodreads. It’s much much cheaper! And, for me, guilt free.
After a couple of rounds of KonMari, I have pared my stack of unread books down considerably, to less than 20 books, and prior to the start of this year, I promised myself that any that remain unread by year’s end will be given away. I have really tried to stop buying books period (using the library more), but esp. books that I “might read someday.”
I go through phases where I read a lot, and during those phases I get over-ambitious and start purchasing lots of books. The phase never lasts, or I get too busy, or I fart a book I don’t like and get discouraged/distracted and the phase ends. I did have quite a few unread books (no where near a hundred, though) but when we moved realized none of them looked like anything I was interested in any longer so off to goodwill they went. I have lots of stuff on my kindle I haven’t started yet. Two books that come to mind are Relatively Famous by Jessica Park and the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, can’t remember the title.
So many unreads. Probably the next one up is Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane (after I finish Us.)
Yesss… I’m with you on this one! How funny that it carries no stigma in Japan and has a name. I’ll never forget that part of the Kondo method of tidying up where she said that if you haven’t read a book within 3 months of buying it, you never will and should toss it, and that there’s no need to fill your house with books. I nearly threw the book at that point, and I honestly had a hard time continuing because I thought YOU MONSTER. I have books I bought YEARS ago that I do finally get to, and I have shelves dedicated to the books I haven’t read yet. Now, some I may never get to, or it may take a really long time, but it was worth it at the time I bought it, and I like knowing that it’s there. I also feel like if there is ever some kind of apocalyptic event or I fall ill and am housebound, I will be SET with reading material. A book that comes to mind in particular is this book I bought at Cornell in their bookshop, during a weekend away for my birthday, and it’s about Elizabeth Siddell, a Pre-Raphaelite “supermodel” who lived a short, tragic life. I don’t know when I’ll pick that one up, but it is beautiful and some day will be the right day to read it. Not yet though.