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Why I should never get rid of my books

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AsterSelene Since: Sep, 2009
#1: Oct 24th 2011 at 11:24:46 PM

From The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe page:

"Keep Circulating the Tapes: Because the books, for most their entire published history, were ordered in publishing order and only recently re-ordered by a different publisher, older volumes of the series that maintain the classic numbering go for a lot more money today than they used to.

  • It's not just the publishing order. The new "re-ordered" publications also make changes to the text of the books, supposedly to bring them back to Lewis's "original ideas".

...Goddammit.

The new editions massacring the text?

Not only that but I could always use some spare cash. I used to have an entire box set of the Narnia series in the original order, until I got rid of them in some way in order to clear room on my bookshelf for new books, reasoning that I could read them later. To this day I don't know where they are - they could be in retrievable storage but it's more likely I gave it to someone.

Goddammit.

ImipolexG frozen in time from all our yesterdays Since: Jan, 2001
frozen in time
#2: Oct 24th 2011 at 11:59:25 PM

Hm. I wonder what the changes are. I too lost my set of the "old" versions, alas. No idea what happened to it.

Personally, I never get rid of books, the above notwithstanding. There would have to be some serious reason (like, basically no choice) before I'd do so.

no one will notice that I changed this
Fiwen9430 Since: Apr, 2010
#3: Oct 25th 2011 at 3:59:17 AM

[up][up]With respect to changes being made in the text, I believe that is due to the alterations that went on between the British and American editions. Before 1994, there were some parts of the American texts that were significantly different from the original British counterparts. The American text was then revised to match the original British text in 1994, which I guess you could describe as 'fitting better with Lewis' original ideas'.

Edit: Is this the sort of thing you mean?

edited 25th Oct '11 4:08:14 AM by Fiwen9430

Alkthash Was? Since: Jan, 2001
Was?
#4: Oct 27th 2011 at 12:15:03 AM

I dunno, I never get rid of book generally except when I have to move and I filter out the old stuff, but I don't think it's a bad idea to prune personal libraries every once in a while. Cut the cruft the silly past you liked that might not reflect to well on you if company visits.

Yuanchosaan antic disposition from Australia Since: Jan, 2010
antic disposition
#5: Oct 27th 2011 at 4:23:38 AM

^I like to keep the majority of my book collection because of that, actually. If you love reading enough, your bookshelf is like a history for you, tracing both the works you liked and the reasons why you enjoyed them. It's interesting to see what people read, and I don't particularly mind if others look at what I've read since childhood. They can judge me for my collection of Forgotten Realms novels/Wodehouse books/Italo Calvino obsession/natural history books or the weird juxtaposition of all of those however they wish.

I do like giving books away to friends and family. Particularly to my younger cousins, who will hopefully develop the same love of reading as I have.

"Doctor Who means never having to say you're kidding." - Bocaj
Jimmmyman10 cannot into space from polan Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
cannot into space
#6: Oct 27th 2011 at 8:06:45 AM

I have the strangest combination of Nonfiction/Calvin and Hobbes/Les Miserables/Children's books/Nutjob Conservative Books My Grandma Gave Me/C. S. Lewis/The Far Side

Go play Kentucky Route Zero. Now.
blackcat Since: Apr, 2009
#7: Oct 27th 2011 at 1:18:31 PM

  • If a book has degenerated into mulch I get rid of it. Or if it shows damage from bugs. Or why I have gone through five copies of To Kill A Mockingbird.
  • If a book contains information that has been refuted by the passage of time I get rid of it. Stage Lighting and Scenery published in 1985 is no longer relevant.
  • If the book is something that I read once and never looked at again after five years I get rid of it. Why did someone give me a novel where the big mystery was who killed the dog?
  • If the book was something that somebody found in the dumpster behind the library and they brought it to me along with a bunch of other books and I have never read any of them and have moved them five times, I get rid of them.
  • If the book was part of the Christmas gift exchange and I forgot I had it, I regift it. Goodbye, ''Twitterature".

Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#8: Oct 27th 2011 at 1:26:52 PM

I get rid of books that I have read and will never reread in whole or in part.

Fancolors I draw stuff. from Land of the Mamelucos Since: Nov, 2010
I draw stuff.
#9: Oct 27th 2011 at 3:05:49 PM

I hardly get rid of any of my books, unless it's something that I particularly didn't enjoy (I'm looking at you, Christmas gift self-help book) I'll probably keep it on my bookshelf or store it in my guest-room. Otherwise, it goes directly to the used-bookstore.

Jimmmyman10 cannot into space from polan Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
cannot into space
#10: Oct 27th 2011 at 3:16:45 PM

Sadly, I never get rid of books. Video games, movies, supplies, I can get rid of them BUT I WILL NEVER GET RID OF ANY BOOKS.

This is why there are so many Nutjob Conservative books on my bookshelf: Half of them were given to me by friends and family, and while I refuse to read them(not out of hating the views, but out of hating bad literature) , I also refuse to get rid of them. I think they started breeding because I can no longer remember being given some of them.

Go play Kentucky Route Zero. Now.
MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Yuanchosaan antic disposition from Australia Since: Jan, 2010
antic disposition
#12: Oct 27th 2011 at 5:35:31 PM

Classic and not so classic literature as if it were tweeted by the main characters. Examples.

"Doctor Who means never having to say you're kidding." - Bocaj
MrShine Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Hoping Senpai notices me
#13: Oct 27th 2011 at 8:05:23 PM

Sadly, I never get rid of books. Video games, movies, supplies, I can get rid of them BUT I WILL NEVER GET RID OF ANY BOOKS.

This is me. The strongest action I will take for books I now despise (ie Terry Goodkind books) is to move them to my brother's bookshelf. I was absolutely furious when he lost my totally impractical and half-destroyed all-in-one-volume Lord of the Rings, even though i got his much nicer three-volume version in repayment. No matter how worthless the book is I refuse to get rid of it.

EDIT: Also, dont ever get rid of old video games. The amount of money I've spent repurchasing games I had as a kid numbers in the hundreds of dollars.

edited 27th Oct '11 8:06:21 PM by MrShine

Nexus Since: Jan, 2001
#14: Oct 27th 2011 at 11:45:57 PM

[up][up]Okay, I admit that I LO Led at those, especially the Harry Potter ones.

Sporkaganza I'm glasses. Since: May, 2009
I'm glasses.
#15: Oct 28th 2011 at 4:09:51 AM

I'm terrible at getting rid of books, even books I've never touched since I've first read them. I can do it, but extremely reluctantly. I don't know why; I think I'm just a natural hoarder.

Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#16: Oct 28th 2011 at 9:44:21 AM

The new editions massacring the text?
They Changed It, Now It Sucks! much?

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
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