Yes, it's true: I'm bitten by the tsundoku-fever.
But I absolutely don't see that as a problem at all 😄
How about you?
For those who aren't familiar with this Japanese word:
Tsundoku is the art of buying books and not reading them despite your intention to do so.
Just like some women love to buy innumerable shoes or clothes, I've got the same 'problem' with books.
Making up the balance of the first three trimesters of 2022, these are the results of my buying behaviour:
- around 100 paper books
- already more than 60 e-books
Often I buy one book here and two books there.
But from time to time I also have big book hauls after visiting a book fair or a book shop.
Here are 83 paper books collected during five of such relaxing shopping trips during the months of May till September:
The question is: have I actually read some of those new books?
And the answer is: only a few.
From the paper books shown in the pictures above I've read 6 titles and there are 2 more which I'm currently reading.
From the e-books I've read 9 titles and there are 5 more which I'm currently reading.
But is it in fact a problem that I haven't read more of them yet?
Not in my opinion as I
just LOVE to be surrounded by my own library and to have lots of books in many
different genres to choose from at any given time.
Some people feel overwhelmed by such an amount of unread books.
Others find it an utter waste of money.
But to be honest I don't have any negative feelings about my (at least) 600 unread books at home. On the contrary!
And there are others, like Antoine Wilson and Thomas Deneuville, who are just like me and who totally enjoy their tsundoku too.
By the way, did you know that my library is still nothing compared to the more
than 30.000 books Umberto Eco had stored in his one?
Apparently, in his books The Black Swan and Antifragile author Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls it an
'antilibrary':
"The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with “Wow! Signore, professore dottore Eco, what a library you have ! How many of these books have you read?” and the others - a very small minority - who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you don’t know as your financial means, mortgage rates and the currently tight real-estate market allows you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menancingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary."
More about the
antilibrary can be read in this article of The Guardian.
The BBC has an
interesting article too in which among others the difference is explained
between 'tsundoku' and 'bibliomania'.
Even though in Japanese the word tsundoku hasn't any negative connotation, the Western world seems to be quite moralizing about this phenomenon.
That's why as the conclusion of this article I present to you one of the few Youtube-videos in which tsundoku is considered a positive thing 😄
Frankly, this time I was triggered by the financial aspect of acquiring all those unread books, Tau. Those 600 copies at your home? That's a small car right there. Still, it makes a lot more sense than investing your money in cigarettes. And the idea of cross pollination is interesting IMO: choose one field of expertise and the universe will see to it that you pick up interesting insights in other fields, with everything being intertwined.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good observation, Bohse!
DeleteBut you know me: I've always got an answer to everything and I'm creative 😋
So let me tell you about some ways to save a lot of money when buying books 😉
As there are enough of them in my library for several years, I don't immediately need the newest books (and if I really want to read those, I can turn to Netgalley). Furthermore I've got a lot of patience.
So, for my e-books I've got lists at the online retailer and I often (not always though) wait until the price drops significantly.
An example: there was an e-book at € 11,99 which I was able to buy for € 1,99.
When I compare all the original prices and the ones I actually paid for my e-books, I already saved around € 200 this year.
For my paper books I do the same or I wait till there are actions like '2 + 1 for free'. In the latter case, I always buy books in the same price category (as they often discount the cheapest one).
For example: by choosing three books of around € 30 each I only pay € 60 instead of € 90 for beautiful hardbacks.
And not so long ago there were paper books at € 1 each which were also part of a '2 + 1 for free' action. So in the end I only paid € 2 for 3 books. Crazy, huh?
My general rule is to spend maximum € 5 on e-books and on average € 7 on paper books.
Of course, there are exceptions in both categories. But I seldom pay the full price you see in most shops.
In order to be able to do this, I'm subscribed to several digital newsletters to follow the e-book promotions. For those who're interested in the subject, I especially recommend Bookbub. Not only is it great to spot actions, but even if you're not planning to buy the books immediately it forms an excellent source of inspiration as well!
For my paper books I've got several places to turn to.
In Belgium and the Netherlands there's Kruidvat and often you'll find books there at € 4 instead of € 21 for the same book in a regular bookshop.
Then there are temporary book fairs like Lannoo Boekenmarkt where lots of books are sold at € 7 or € 9. When we compared what we paid the last time we went there (we came back with 22 books) and how much we would've paid in a regular bookshop for the same titles, we discovered that we saved € 420 ! With that money a lot of other books can be bought instead 😄
Tau, I am one small step away of appointing you my chief financial manager. But if I may, you're strategy reminds me of the following conversation between husband and wife:
DeleteWife: We need a new diswasher.
Husband: What on earth for?
Wife: To save money on water and electricity. Wit one of those new models each washing cycle will save us an obscene bunch on money.
Husband: Look, we already have an energy efficient washing machine and a cost efficient tumble dryer. Last year, you made me install a solar powered central heating system. And only last month you forced me to buy a fuel efficient car.
Wife: So?
Husband: So we can't afford to save more money. We're broke.
See how that works? It still costs money!
Now Tau, I wish I could savour the "gotcha" moment, but knowing you, you will not let this slide and probably react with a clever answer I never saw coming.
Well, of course it still costs money, Bohse!
DeleteThose writers want to be paid. And who could blame them?
Even though you aren't published (yet!), you're a really great writer yourself! So I sincerely hope that one day you'll be able to sell your own book(s) and I'll gladly pay the full price of them (although a signed copy would be nice *hint hint*).
But anyway, for the books I was able to buy at a lower price, I always try to give back what I've gained in price in the form of a review (hopefully positive, although I always give my honest opinion - but hey, tastes differ and even bad publicity is still publicity, right?!).
What did you think of this answer? Saw it coming? 😋
I told you before, Tau: if I ever manage to get some work published, I will need you to buy at least ten copies to show your unwavering support, I expect nothing less from my personal marketing/PR/financial manager. And I should not discourage you from buying more books, that is just plain silly. After all, people like you are my bread and butter.
DeleteHi Tau, Berengaria di Rossi from GoodReads here. Oh good Lord, I've been bitten by the Tsundoku bug for decades although I didn't know there was a word for it! Like you, I've got a ton (last count circa 400) unread books in my "anti-library" and have to do a cull every now and again for space reasons...only to go out and get more. I'm too slow of a reader for the normal library and since I don't read on screen, all the ARCs and e-book sales are out for me. And paperbacks in Germany are *expensive*. You won't find anything in bookshops for under 10 euros. 13-16 euros is the average for fiction. (Luckily, Amazon often has English books for cheaper)
ReplyDeleteMy downfall is the excellent free library some cruel, cruel people have placed on the square virtually outside my front door. The nerve! I'm compelled to visit it almost everyday and haul home between 3 to 6 books to my already overflowing shelves and cardboard boxes! 😂 What's great about the free library is that people leave books in a myriad of languages in there. Sometimes in languages I read. Unfortunately, there are no Dutch readers around here, so Dutch is (virtually) never in there.
My other source is the discount bin at the supermarket. Germany has the set price "Preisbindung" which lasts one year from publication. You can't get any book cheaper anywhere during that time. Remaindered books are released about 3 years after publication. Current prices are 3 to 4 euros.
Sometime I get envious of the English readers on GR who buy/get brand new literature and just burn through them at a rate of 2+ a week. I know it'll take at least 3 or more years for a novel to be translated into German. Then another 2 until the paperback is published. Then another 3 until it ends up (maybe) in the discount bin. That's 8 years! Talk about being constantly late to the party. You probably have the same problem with Dutch.
Do you find that question "how many of these have you read" to be not only ignorant but somewhat insulting, too? It shows that the person asking is not a reader. They may be literate, but books in general kind of scare them. I'm sure a real reader would not ask that question...they'd run up to the shelves and start enthusiastically commenting!
Anyway, enjoyed reading your blog!
Sorry for this extremely late response, Berengaria!
DeleteOften blogspot doesn't allow me to react to comments immediately (and when it's very busy, I forget to react later on), but now I've finally (!) figured out a definitive solution 😉
"... only to go out and get more"
That's so relatable 😄
It was really interesting to read how the book market in Germany is organised!
Because I had honestly no idea whatsoever of all this.
As English is my favourite language, I don't mind to read new books in that language.
Only if I know that my mom will probably like to read the story too, I'll wait for a Dutch translation.
Thanks to Netgalley I can often be among the first to read certain books, but to be honest I don't mind to be late at the party for other books (or for anything else for that matter).
I've never been too keen on hypes and furthermore I simply LOVE to read books that have been reviewed by only a few people (or by nobody at all). It gives me an exciting sense of discovery 😍
Well, I totally loved the deadpan reaction of Umberto Eco to the question "Have you read them all?":
"No, these are the ones I have to read by the end of the month. I keep the others in my office." 😄
Thank you for the compliment!
Japanese seem to have a word for the strangest phenomena, where we Dutch can only get off with a description of the phenomenon. That said, Tsundoku affects me too. Not by choice, just pure lack of time.
ReplyDeleteI do understand the reasoning that an unread book is more valuable than a read one. But if you commit yourself to keep the value, doesn't the book become worthless in the same instant?
Not only the Japanese, Glawen 😉
DeleteIn fact, this is a very interesting subject about which several books have been written!
Here are 2 titles from my 'to be read'-list:
- They Have a Word for It: A Lighthearted Lexicon of Untranslatable Words & Phrases
- Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World
Interesting food for thought. You should be a philosopher 😄
I'll reply more extensively to that later on, cause I have to go now.