Originally Posted by gveranon (Post 150397)

Not having space, and not having time to read books I already own, I've been buying fewer books recently. I tell myself to hold off purchasing this or that book until I'm living in a larger place. But rent is rising fast in the town where I live, so when will I ever be living in a larger place? Save for retirement or live in a larger place--that's a stark either/or.

In the meantime, I occasionally feel compelled to buy this or that particular book for true hoarding purpose. I spot a book that I think I might want in the future--no time to read it now, but it's out of print and used copies are scarce, so naturally I must buy a copy immediately. Or I see a new book that I might want in my future of fantasied leisure, and it's the kind of book that will likely go out of print and never be reprinted; obviously buying it now is the only sensible thing to do.

An example of the former: I really enjoyed William S. Wilson's collection Why I Don't Write Like Franz Kafka, and I saw that he had published one novel, long out of print, called Birthplace: Moving Into Nearness. A few used copies were still available at reasonable price. Snagged it.

An example of the latter: I was enticed by rave reviews of the recently published Questioning Minds: The Letters of Guy Davenport and Hugh Kenner, but I wondered if I'd ever find time to read this trove. So I was going to pass on it for now. But then I realized: this looks like the kind of thing (boxed, two-volume set) that may never be reprinted and that will shortly be unavailable except for expensive used copies. I was already half-regretting not buying Arno Schmidt's massive typescript-novel Bottom's Dream when I had the chance. So... I received the Davenport/Kenner boxed set yesterday, two oversized, 1,000-page volumes of fine print, extensively footnoted and indexed. Incredible. Where am I going to put it and when am I going to read it?

The realities of future book (un)availability make this sort of hoarding necessary, right?

Originally Posted by ToALonelyPeace (Post 150398)

That's interesting since when I make book purchase I don't think of it in terms of future scarcity or value.

Originally Posted by gveranon (Post 150400)

I'm not considering future scarcity/price in order to buy books as an investment. I only buy books I want to read. I've just learned from experience that, with some books, waiting to buy is a mistake. Unfortunately this consideration sometimes compels me to buy books that I only might want to read in the future, and that I only might have time to read. This type of activity seems to me to be true hoarding, as opposed to the more usual experience of being over-enthusiastic when shopping for books, or seeing many enticing titles and having eyes bigger than your appetite, as the saying goes. And yet this true hoarding instinct, driven by thoughts that one might want certain books that might be scarce or expensive in the unknown future, seems like merest common sense to me. It is common sense, right?

Originally Posted by marioneta (Post 150411)

There is a bakery near my house that has a wall of shelves with books. Their policy is "take a book, leave a book". Sometimes I do exactly that with the books I've read and can part with. Then I buy a croissant and a capuchino.

Originally Posted by gveranon (Post 150404)

But several thousand books later, I realize that common sense might, just might, have gone off the rails somewhere.

Originally Posted by Metaphysical Mutant (Post 150542)

A trick that works for me, is that I'll read up through the TOC and forward/intro/preface of everything in my personal library. That way I have a better sense of what I still have to look forward to and I can think about that instead of thinking about what I don't have yet. That doesn't entirely stop the books from stacking up of course.