Thursday, April 01, 2004
I'd rather read the blog...
Than the original, sometimes. This usually happens with blogs like slacktivist, which offer marvelous summaries of everything from densely intellectual articles on politics to a line-by-line analysis of the ridiculous Left Behind series.
And in this case, I'd rather read Teresa Nielsen Hayden's comments about the whines of a Boston bookstore that's going out of business than read the article itself.
And let me add my own: if book buyers would rather shop in a mall or at Wal-Mart, why shouldn't they? My experience with independent bookstores in the last 10 years or so, as much as I wish it were not so, has been routinely bad. Snotty sales clerks who are often more interested in talking to each other than helping customers; unpredictable or at least inconvenient hours for people with 9-5 jobs; poor selections, often dominated by local writers who are published by local publishers. It didn't used to be this way. I remember going into lovely, charming, wood-floored bookstores (occasionally with fireplaces, even!) where the knowledgeable and friendly owner or long-time sales clerk stood ready to offer advice or reading suggestions. And there are still a few of those around--probably because they're great bookstores. But for the most part, I'd rather shop at B&N, where I can get a little help and nobody's going to give me an attitude about my choice of reading material. I'd link to the places where I've gotten that attitude, but they've mostly gone out of business, blaming B&N and Wal-Mart all the way, and I say good riddance.
In the meantime, I actually prefer shopping at the university bookstore, which carries a wide variety of literary fiction, non-fiction, and even a fair amount of genre fiction--and my 10% faculty/staff discount doesn't hurt anything either.
Oh, and here's a note to Avenue Victor Hugo: what makes you guys think that librarians are "destroying" books? Librarians spend thousands of dollars, during a time when dollars are harder and harder to come by, to make certain that the books they're digitizing in order to preserve the content for future generations are handled and treated in a way that will keep them from falling apart. Which books do, eventually. What exactly do you want librarians to do, anyway? There's a limit to physical space. Books must move out in order to make room for new books. Jamming them together on the shelves makes them deteriorate faster.
I look at stupid arguments like these and just think, no wonder they're going out of business.
Now, there is one former Newbury Street bookstore I'll miss: Spenser's, where I bought my first Ellery Queen pulp, among others. That was a great store. No attitude. Just good books.
Than the original, sometimes. This usually happens with blogs like slacktivist, which offer marvelous summaries of everything from densely intellectual articles on politics to a line-by-line analysis of the ridiculous Left Behind series.
And in this case, I'd rather read Teresa Nielsen Hayden's comments about the whines of a Boston bookstore that's going out of business than read the article itself.
And let me add my own: if book buyers would rather shop in a mall or at Wal-Mart, why shouldn't they? My experience with independent bookstores in the last 10 years or so, as much as I wish it were not so, has been routinely bad. Snotty sales clerks who are often more interested in talking to each other than helping customers; unpredictable or at least inconvenient hours for people with 9-5 jobs; poor selections, often dominated by local writers who are published by local publishers. It didn't used to be this way. I remember going into lovely, charming, wood-floored bookstores (occasionally with fireplaces, even!) where the knowledgeable and friendly owner or long-time sales clerk stood ready to offer advice or reading suggestions. And there are still a few of those around--probably because they're great bookstores. But for the most part, I'd rather shop at B&N, where I can get a little help and nobody's going to give me an attitude about my choice of reading material. I'd link to the places where I've gotten that attitude, but they've mostly gone out of business, blaming B&N and Wal-Mart all the way, and I say good riddance.
In the meantime, I actually prefer shopping at the university bookstore, which carries a wide variety of literary fiction, non-fiction, and even a fair amount of genre fiction--and my 10% faculty/staff discount doesn't hurt anything either.
Oh, and here's a note to Avenue Victor Hugo: what makes you guys think that librarians are "destroying" books? Librarians spend thousands of dollars, during a time when dollars are harder and harder to come by, to make certain that the books they're digitizing in order to preserve the content for future generations are handled and treated in a way that will keep them from falling apart. Which books do, eventually. What exactly do you want librarians to do, anyway? There's a limit to physical space. Books must move out in order to make room for new books. Jamming them together on the shelves makes them deteriorate faster.
I look at stupid arguments like these and just think, no wonder they're going out of business.
Now, there is one former Newbury Street bookstore I'll miss: Spenser's, where I bought my first Ellery Queen pulp, among others. That was a great store. No attitude. Just good books.
permalink posted by The Vintage Reader @ 6:17 AM 
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