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/lit/ - Literature

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1938734 No.1938734 [Reply] [Original]

>visit small town I grew up in but haven't been to for 6 years
>stop by the library
>library used to have 5 rooms: Newspapers & Magazines, Children's, Fiction, Non-fiction (except art&literature), and Art/Literature
>today these 5 rooms contain: Magazines only, Children's, Fiction, Non-fiction (including art&literature), and GRAPHIC NOVELS (i.e. COMIC BOOKS)
>to cram all the nonfiction into one room, the total book holdings were reduced by (I'm guessing) 20% and the Art/Lit holdings by more like 75%
>as I'm walk out disgustedly, though, I notice they managed to save shelf space FOR JEFF FUCKING DUNHAM'S BOOK
>come home
>see Borders is going out of business
>no good bookstore chains left. B&N is an inferior substitute and really only exists as a place for hipsters to drink starbucks
>realize books really are dying
>I'M STILL NOT FUCKING BUYING A GOD DAMN FUCKING KINDLE
>otoh I did get to have the creepy experience of walking into a store I hadn't been inside in a decade only to realize that it was the setting for the weird-ass dream I had last month
>fucking unconscious memory, how does it work?

>> No.1938738

That's why God created Amazon.

>> No.1938742

>I'M STILL NOT FUCKING BUYING A GOD DAMN FUCKING KINDLE
So you don't want to support literature in the 21st century? Is that what you're saying?

>> No.1938746

>>1938742
If it's longer than 10 pages and not on physical paper, I ain't reading it.

>> No.1938761

>>1938746
What are you, a Luddite? You would have been one of those people tearing about printing presses because "real books are printed by hand, with a quill pen."

You realize you are actively preventing literature from progressing and expanding, right?

>> No.1938768

>>1938761
It's not about tradition or any such bull, it's about usefulness.

1) Physical books will last as long as I do. ebooks will only last as long as my hard drive or as long as the company that makes the reader software/device.
2) I can't stick 4 fingers in 4 different pages and flip back and forth between them instantly to compare or refer back to things or whatever.
3) Real books don't need batteries.

I could probably come up with more...

>> No.1938775

>>1938761
people using the word luddite should be publicly whipped. with hand-made whips, no factory bullshit.

>> No.1938789

>>1938775
Luddites were the people who tore apart printing presses and shit. It makes sense here.

>> No.1938803

>>1938789
I think he means the term "luddite" is abused too much, regardless of the context. Terms like that are a diamond dozen, you know.

>> No.1938826

The Luddite's problem with technology wasn't technology per se, it was with the new power given to the capitalist class over their workers. They wanted technology to ease the burden placed on the workers instead of add to it. And in a way, they were one of the first modern unions. They were a pretty chill bro.

>> No.1938829

>>1938789
point of fact, luddites were 19th c. weavers who destroyed textile machines that they believed, a la southpark, took their jobs. the general sense of 'opposed to all technology' is now accepted but technically inaccurate in the historical sense. and here we have an example of why people shouldn't just parrot pretty words they hear others using.

>> No.1938862

I'm sorry that they took up the lit space, but there really are some very good comic books out there.

>> No.1938873

>otoh
what

>> No.1938879

>2011
>Still thinks that book chains are in any way valuable, forgets that book chains killed the individuality of books

Yeah bitch I went there

>> No.1939204

>>1938734
>anti-graphic novels, anti-anti-intellectuals anti-ereader, anti-BN, anti-hipster attitudes all stated or implied

>.>
>not sure if trolling or just very anti-stuff

>> No.1939209

>>1938734
Hipsters neither drink at Starbucks nor do they buy books from B&N. (They also don't buy Moleskins from B&N.)

>> No.1939220

You know what real books have that a kindle doesn't?

That fucking new book smell.

Which is why I want to murder this faggot:
http://smellofbooks.com/

>> No.1939232

>>1939220
Does that stuff work? Because I'd cover my entire apartment in that beautiful scent. Still wouldn't get an e-reader though.

>> No.1939244

your part about chain book stores and hipster baiting is where you lost me. I am very concerned with the blight of public libraries though.
>Defund public libraries
>Defund public schools
>maintain or increase funding for military/police
welcome to the burgeoning ancap/teabagger movement

>> No.1939246
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1939246

>>1938803
chek 'um

>> No.1939263

>>1939244
Actually I think the ideological contradiction you're looking for is something more like:
>criticize taxpayer-funded social institutions
>argue for defunding all of them
>go to public library to learn about colonial history
>hold massive protests on public lands
>strain publicly-managed & maintained transit systems & infrastructures that enable large, public gatherings

>> No.1939268

>>1939263
Right, it's nearly endless how hypocritical neo-conservatism is. Almost as bad as neo-liberalism.

>> No.1939818

>>1939268
>almost

>> No.1939828

>>I'M STILL NOT FUCKING BUYING A GOD DAMN FUCKING KINDLE
>"I like the feel of paper, the smell of old books"
>I don't really like reading, I like feeling like a person who likes reading

>> No.1939833

>>1939828
>bought my kindle
>download 10,000 books just because i can
>don't really like reading, just like organizing my ebook collection

>> No.1939842

>>1939833
Please. People sticking to print books are far more guilty of the vanity of having things 'just cause' and liking organizing them.

>> No.1939850

>>1939268
>neo-conservatism
What? Neo-cons are almost the antithesis to the tea-baggers. With big government, aggressive foreign policy, etc...

>> No.1939857

>own an iPod because having instant access to 100,000 songs isn't enough
>own a Kindle because having instant access to 100,000 books isn't enough
>own a facebook because having instant access to 100,000 friends isn't enough
>own a _____ because having instant access to 100,000 television series and/or movies isn't enough
>own a ______ because having instant access to 100,000 video games isn't enough

>own all the above devices and be a walking library of entertainment at all times, a poster boy for ADD, and a materialistic whore who can't stop compulsively collecting things

>> No.1939859

>>1939842
I fall on the pro-real books side here. I don't know how much money you people have, but with books costing $10 minimum and sometimes up to $50-$60 for the technical books I buy, I almost never buy a book "just because".

Also, from what I've seen, ebooks are only about 10% cheaper than the real versions, which is pathetic. mp3 albums cost like $7-$8 (the last time I actually bought music) compared to almost $20 for a CD.

I do, however, admit to having a giant 15 gb ebook folder that I downloaded off torrents that I use as a handy reference library. I've probably spent more time organizing it than actually using it, though.

>> No.1939878

>>1939842
>People sticking to print books are far more guilty of the vanity of having things 'just cause' and liking organizing them.
Guilty as charged. Although I ostensibly intend to read every book I've bought, I know that with some of them, that'll never happen.

>>1939859
>from what I've seen, ebooks are only about 10% cheaper than the real versions, which is pathetic
but who wants to pay 11% more for a nifty, weighty, tangible, durable, smellable, doodleable, creasable *physical* copy??

>> No.1939881

>>1939857
wait so, you own those devices because having instant access to hundreds of thousands of (x) isn't ENOUGH?

so without a kindle, how do you have instant access to hundreds of thousands of books?

>> No.1939888

>>1939878
>but who wants to pay 11% more for a nifty, weighty, tangible, durable, smellable, doodleable, creasable *physical* copy??
people who love filling their houses with crap, I guess.

after I got a kindle I sold pretty much all of my old books except the ones that I had a sentimental connection to or are otherwise valuable, and I couldn't be happier with that decision.

>> No.1939889

>>1939878
>but who wants to pay 11% more for a nifty, weighty, tangible, durable, smellable, doodleable, creasable *physical* copy??

Me.

>> No.1939897

>>1939888
>after I got a kindle I sold pretty much all of my old books except the ones that I had a sentimental connection to or are otherwise valuable, and I couldn't be happier with that decision.

That's a different discussion; you're just a hoarder. I think even many "real book" advocates would still rather have 1000 ebooks versus 1000 real books, given that those 1000 books are all ones that you haven't looked at in years, if ever, and are just taking up huge amounts of physical space in your house/apartment.

>> No.1939904

>>1939897
>you're just a hoarder. I think even many "real book" advocates would still rather have 1000 ebooks versus 1000 real books, given that those 1000 books are all ones that you haven't looked at in years, if ever, and are just taking up huge amounts of physical space in your house/apartment.

yeah, that's not at all true. I am not a hoarder. I just read a lot of books.

>> No.1939907

>>1939904
But you also *keep* a lot of books.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery, m'kay?

>> No.1939914

>>1939907
I kept the Shakespeare collection my grandmother gave me, and a couple of old first editions. I have like a single shelf of physical books now. How is that hoarding?

>> No.1939922

>>1939914
Well, before you sold them all I meant. My bad, I forgot that part.

>> No.1939925

>>1939888
>after I got a kindle I sold pretty much all of my old books except the ones that I had a sentimental connection to or are otherwise valuable, and I couldn't be happier with that decision
Out of curiosity, how did you sell them?


>>1939897
>>>1939888
>>after I got a kindle I sold pretty much all of my old books except the ones that I had a sentimental connection to or are otherwise valuable, and I couldn't be happier with that decision.

>That's a different discussion; you're just a hoarder.

>Selling all your books.
>Being a hoarder.
Pick one.

>> No.1939934

>>1939922
I still don't get how this makes any sense. Look, I agree with you that a lot of people who can't make the switch to digital are just obsessed with the physical possession of books as "things" and are thus in some ways similar to hoarders (although honestly I'm not sure I'd go that far) but I don't see how in my case you could call me a hoarder when, at the first opportunity I got rid of those physical books.

>> No.1939935

>>1939897
>I think even many "real book" advocates would still rather have 1000 ebooks versus 1000 real books, given that those 1000 books are all ones that you haven't looked at in years, if ever, and are just taking up huge amounts of physical space in your house/apartment.

This could hardly be further from the truth. If anything, they'd rather have a larger house/apartment space for book storage.

>> No.1939938

>>1939925
>Out of curiosity, how did you sell them?
I just took them to the local used book store. They don't give you a great deal (which is why I didn't do it before I had the kindle) but its a hell of a lot simpler than going on ebay or amazon or wherever and individually listing every single paperback and then shipping them out over time (especially when you're just gonna end up getting 50 cents a piece for them, at best)

>> No.1939947

>>1939938
Yeah, and it's difficult when you must compete against those large e-Bay vendors with huge catalogues of <$1 books.

>> No.1939977

Libraries getting their budgets reduced isn't so bad. I've been able to buy several books from Amazon lately selling for 1 PENNY (before shipping) from libraries that are liquidating their inventories.

>> No.1940031

My bookcases are filled to about 130% capacity*, and I STILL am not going to buy a LOL Kindle.

*by horizontally placing books on vertical books** because I'm out of room otherwise

**even doing this, I'm nearly out of room

>> No.1940066

>>1940031
PROTIP: Flat pack bookcases are about $12 at walmart and take 15 minutes to put together.

>> No.1940086

>>as I'm walk out disgustedly, though, I notice they managed to save shelf space FOR JEFF FUCKING DUNHAM'S BOOK

That just means that's one of the books they couldn't even give away during their You-Idiots-Put-Too-Many-Republicans-In-The-State-Legislature-And-Now-We-Have-To-Sell-All-Our-Books-T
o-Pay-The-Electricity-Bill Book Sale three years ago.

>> No.1940094

>>1940066

It's not that, there's no more room in my bedroom, which is small and has furniture taking up 80% of the floorspace.

>> No.1940101

>>1940031
>My bookcases are filled to about 130% capacity*, and I STILL am not going to buy a LOL Kindle.

Why?

>> No.1940104
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1940104

>>1940031
Whats the point of filling your house with books you've already read?