Books! They fought the dogs and killed the cats, And bit the babies in the cradles...

(very much tl;dr I'm afraid)

So, it’s come to this. I’ve got to get rid of a lot my books? For why? Well, a while ago I started having serious breathing difficulties - could only take incredibly shallow breaths, heart going like a jackhammer all night, no rest, no sleep etc, and it turns out that I’m allergic to dust or whatever it is in dust (mite poo I believe) that people get allergic to. This riles me considerably - I like dusty places, I prefer old buildings to new, a sagging sofa or armchair to a new, carpets to parquet. It also makes me feel like a veakly Wictorian child. Nevertheless, no use railing against an inescapable physical state. The breathing has made my life a living nightmare - (not too melodramatic on occasion I'm afraid - the combination of lack of sleep and dreaming, a perpetual mundane confusion and the continual spectre of illness felt very much an adequate representation of 'a living nightmare').

I recently moved flat in the hope that a less dusty place will allow me to get back to sound in wind and limb, and for a while I did, until I moved my books in. I can’t really afford a large place, with the books in one of the wings or stable, so I live and sleep quite close to them. I dusted and vacuumed very carefully, but to no avail. Having been fine until I moved the books in, I now found myself, if not quite at square one, at least at the end of a considerable reverse.

It hardly needs saying that books contain an awful lot of dust.

The situation is not, I recognise, without a certain humour. I love books, they kill me. Love is the plan, the plan is death.

Why worry? Chuck ‘em, right? Of interest only to object fetishists and book bibbers. A material consequence of the implication behind the statement ‘Oh, I LOVE books!’ What, all of them? Even the ones by Clarkson? Anyway, they’ll all be on e-readers soon. Why worry?

Well, I like having them for one thing. I like clambering around the shelves, looking for stuff that occurs to me. Also I’ve got a terrible memory, so if I’m writing something, I’ll frequently have to go looking for the book, which is at the end of the mere thread of a thought my mind is tugging. It’s handy to have an ever-expanding library.

When I was growing up there were huge stacks of books at home. My dad was very much the self-educated man, didn’t go to university, but read a lot. Lot of left-wing history, lot of cricket books, lot of commuter thriller genre fiction, classics, out-of-the-way biographies, anything. Wandering around those shelves gave me a great inheritance. It’s not too much to say that it helped form my interior life - picking up the Myth of Sisyphus or Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, I didn’t know it, but I was picking up something that would shape my future thought, something I would still love 20 years later. Picking them up now contains a memory of when I first picked them up. If I’m lucky/stupid/foolish/careless/blessed enough to have children, then I’d want them to have something similar, not out of vanity, but for the hundreds of universes contained between covers, dissimilar, yet contained in one place and reflective in a diffuse and recondite way of a single personality. Even the serendipitous acquisition both adds to and becomes part of the acquirer. So yeah I do like books. Just not the ones by Clarkson.

Also a lot of the stuff I’d be getting rid of - genre stuff - would be my dad’s and it has some sentimental value, even if the literary value is sometimes dubious. (Adam Hall is absurd).

Still, he wouldn’t want me suffering ill-health as a consequence of a sentimental attachment, and now I must get rid of as many of them as I can bear. A bar to this in the past has been an inability to discriminate. No, I definitely need this James Hadley Chase thriller. Yes, I need two copies of Tennyson’s poems - this one has a nice soft cover and fits easily in the pocket, this one has the sturdy hard boards and wide leading. That sort of thing. It meant that I think in the past years I’ve only got rid of a completely redundant book on double-entry bookkeeping (no idea) and something on ‘50s forensics (and I was rather reluctant about that - what about the ‘50s detective procedural I can now envisage myself writing as I get rid of this?)

So now I’m being indiscriminate. Anything I absolutely can’t bear to be without will stay, everything else, I’m going to get rid of. Down the charity shop. I’m going to do a list, and anyone who sees a title they want just let me know and, within reason (and p&p), I’ll send it to you (or give it to you if you’re in London and find easier to meet up). I’ll post here when I’ve completed the list. I doubt there’ll be a huge number of takers (there’s nothing special there - obv I’m keeping the first edition of Wyndham Lewis’ Paleface that was once owned by Bruce Montgomery), but you never know, and I'd rather a book went to someone who explicitly wanted it than languish on a shelf or in a box.

Why not put them in storage? Well, I can’t be arsed basically. I see no point in the nearish future when I’m going to be living somewhere where they’ll be able to go, without a similar situation, and moving them around is too much hassle.

If there are any suggestions about what I should keep and what I should definitely throw, which might not be immediately apparent ( what about reference books? aggregated essays? things read and liked but unlikely to be read again? what does the internet replace? do I need that two-volume concise OED?), then do post here.

It’s probably a good thing. It doesn’t feel like it - but I guess shriving oneself from one’s acquisitions rarely does. Acquisition is only important to those who feel an inner lack, right?

Not too long, and I did read.

My response in 2 parts (part 2 occured hot on the heels of pt 1):

1. This is awful, and I would hate to be in your position--I recently god rid of five big crates of books (gave away to charity book shed) and it was HARD, and I still have billions of the things, and wouldn't want to be otherwise

2. Cool! Free books!

Yeah, I can't imagine having to abandon my collection. I feel for you, GR. But lawks, I have pretty much run out of room already and this will be so tempting.

you may have thought of this already but what about bookshelves with doors? or some other kind of enclosed storage in your home? or would this not make much of a difference?

oh man this is the worst. i have much milder allergies to dust mites--i just sneeze uncontrollably until i leave the room and take a shower--and this scenario has always been kind of a Fear. and my dad filled the house with books when i was a kid, too. (even though i inherited the allergy from him.) i guess at the very least you don't live in a time when the information in the books would literally be inaccessible without them. but i totally understand that it's not about information.

First, the mourning period. Then, slowly, the sense of possibilities will emerge.

My vote: decide on an appropriate use for the money you will get by selling off the dear ones. Perhaps make a pilgramage to a place that your imagination aligns well with. Make a lasting memory out of it. And look forward to renewed health. Damn, but good health is a fine thing!

Oh man, I am sorry. It would be painful to do this. I'm less attached to my books than some: I had some death-related house moves that made me quite happy to throw piles out: having a copy of The Ordeal of Richard Feverel around didn't seem that important. Now I'll happily give a bagful to the charity shop every so often. & I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't be happier without the damnd things tying me down.

So, it could be ok after the initial wrench. Kindle and iPad (I think the iPhone is too small) can replace most classics for free if you don't mind iffy editions (or I suppose, given Google Books pdfs, quite nice old editions? Are readers good with PDFs?) I haven't really looked into this yet properly); you have a great library at your disposal (and can join more round London); & you can run a rolling book-collection, I should think, for the pulpy stuff - buy a £2.80 Barry Malzberg on Amazon, read, resell.

I'd keep poetry, personally, and some reference - dictionaries (a compact oed yes, concise no, even tho' there's a torrent of OED2 around somewhere, so it's easy to go digital on that), folklore, nature.

I'm most book-acquisitive when I'm bored.

(btw that mooted flat-let really wouldn't have worked on these grounds alone: I have plenty of both kinds of dust, book and regular)

It's Shriving Tuesday.

It is indeed. I just wrote a longish thank you, and response to the various answers (and you're right woof, wdn't have worked, I remember you having said it before) but accidentally renewed the page and lost it. Loving Aimless' 'a pilgramage to a place that your imagination aligns well with'. And emil.y, wdn't get your hopes up! There's a load of old rubbish on the list, but you never know.

Lord, this sounds awful. Someone else I knew on the internet suffered a flooded library a few months ago and I thought that would be the worst book-related trouble anyone I knew might encounter for a while. And I decided for this year I have to get rid of at least one book for each I keep, and I can't even afford books, and that's still difficult.

Echoing everyone's thoughts - sorry to hear. But I'm sure that you will become healthy enough to do the reading again.

List of what I've done here. Probably need to get rid of more truth be told. Nothing particularly recondite, quite a lot of rubbish, something might be of interest to someone.

Almost entirely in readable condition, although quite often reasonably well thumbed. Some hardbacks, some proofs. If you see something you like but want more info, just ask.

If only K Amis were alive, he could take his favourite writer Dick Francis off your hands.

James' lit criticism and Carver look among the best picks to me. But I don't need more books so should stay out.

He's welcome to take Dick Francis off my hands. I read a load when I was ill once. Dreadful stuff, even in the throes of delerium.

oh i like dick francis novels, i always felt that if one were going to write any sort of thing that needed a satisfying plot structure one could do very well out of making a flowchart from a dick francis novel. it would not matter particularly which one, as they're all the same, but he does know when the young independently-wealthy pilot/jockey with a distant father needs to get beaten up by hired goons and then be manfully flippant while the ingenue learns her first field dressing, managing rather well all things considered.

otm about the plots. 'Managing rather well all things considered' ha ha, this exactly - shortish (obv) blonde women, always.

Knock knock.

- Who is it?

- Hired goons!

- Hired GOONS??

i went through this about three times and then got rid of ALL my books except for comics
and now i have a home filled with comics so that didn't work

Enjoyed the notes on your list! At the risk of being what feels like the first to dance on a grave, any chance I could snaffle

Making Good Again - Lionel Davidson
Smiley’s People - John Le Carré
Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination - Edogawa Rampo [Hirai Taro]
Mirror Mirror on the Wall - Stanley Ellin
Dead Man Leading - VS Pritchett

?

I'm in Australia, so postage could be a bit of a bugger. If it's too difficult for you to work out, I don't want to make life difficult for you.

I can send you Making Good Again and Mirror Mirror on the Wall, James - the other ones are taken I'm afraid to say. I'll check the postage at the Post Office, and let you know - how does that sound?

Can you bring that Metaphysical Poetry anthology, if still available...

tomorrow to the pub, that is..

Sounds great--thank you! I assume I can Paypal you the postage?

GR, have you considered doing something like this?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oZXsTluFrEc/RzeyC4MmDWI/AAAAAAAABJI/PFOpChgyeJY/s400/Books.jpg

I have something halfway like that myself!

It was left by my home's previous occupants.

What is particularly nice about the room in that photo is that they have got the cover of Lou Reed's Berlin embroidered on the armchair.

Must be where they sit and shoot up.

GR, have you considered doing something like this?

I definitely had, Nick - just1n3 mentioned something similar above. The short answer is that at the moment space + the rate of accumulation of books means it doesn't feel like a long-term solution. I just thought 'fuck it, this is the best solution'.

Although now I've cleared some, I've realised that I need to clear more. In fact I won't rest until I've got rid of every single book within a bun's throw of my armchair. Well, maybe not that, but I think I looked too fondly upon some areas - was very reluctant to get rid of history books for instance (those lovely, lovely indexes, and the internet never seems to get that sort of thing right (you know, the history sort of thing).

Got the metaphysical poetry book, xyzzzz__.

James, I'll get down the post office at the w'end - I've also nabbed that Edogawa Rampo back from the first person who claimed it, because the first person who claimed it was a colleague who I'd like to wallop round the head on a regular basis. I said I'd made a mistake and someone had already asked for it.

It's the sense of fair play on which I pride myself.

James, I'll get down the post office at the w'end - I've also nabbed that Edogawa Rampo back from the first person who claimed it, because the first person who claimed it was a colleague who I'd like to wallop round the head on a regular basis. I said I'd made a mistake and someone had already asked for it.

Ah, you are the best of eggs--that's probably the one I'm most interested in reading, too!

£7.50/$12 to you, James. Not sure whether that's good value for money or not, but I'll let you make you mind up on that:

http://theidiotandthedog.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/img_0368.jpg

If you decide you want them, I have got a paypal account, although I've never used it to receive money. I assume it's fairly simple.

your mind obv, and a curiously consanguinous set of covers i see now i've posted them together.

Huzzah! Sounds good to me. Just let me know the email address. You should then get an email from Paypal, which will tell you the money's there waiting for you. Then you just type in an account, or choose the credit card you already have attached to it, and the money should move to your account ofter a mysterious delay 3-5 days.

Are the Amblers still available, Gamaliel? I could help by taking them off your hands.

Will do, James.

Thanks, Ismael - unfortunately I took them down to the charity shop on Saturday. To be honest, apart from Journey into Fear they weren't first rate - although Dirty Story has got a pleasing unreliable narrator.

It's looking like there'll be another sweep today, so I'll post another list up when that's done.

Gah! No worries though, I need to follow your lead myself so that'd've made a terrible start.

More -

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D6StMvz-iJbXhHOyGqul36XAjZTANz0Zc3Z6AiGlZ2Y/edit?hl=en&authkey=CLi7-MwE

i have to admit i rather like the sound of

Selected Letters of Julian Maclaren-Ross - “can I have some money? why won’t you f’ me? why won’t you let me have some money? can I f’ you? can I have some f’ing money?” on and on and on and on and tediously on.

also, what's with the animus for powell, hm

No animus, thomp - the opposite in fact: I'm a big fan of his early comic stuff, and most of Dance. I remember reading somewhere that Powell himself was the one who rather insisted on Pole as the pronunciation for his name to indicate his Welsh heritage - nothing wrong with that of course (although I'm not quite sure how it works), but it's one of those slightly irritating shibboleths you hear from time to time in bookshops, where people can make rather a thing of it to show their deep knowledge over those idiots who say Powell, well anyway it can seem like that.

And those memoirs do seem to me comparatively feeble stuff. His love of gossip and willingness to gossip about others doesn't extend to a candidness about himself or his own feelings, other than very much a willingness to talk about his family tree. Not without wry wit, but pretty thin I thought on the whole.

i have to admit i rather like the sound of

Selected Letters of Julian Maclaren-Ross

Sadly, it really is just as GR described it, which is really sad, as his fictions/memoirs are great