By the time anyone reads this, Mrs Biblioracle and I will be moving into a new (for us) home.
Having moved several times during our 30s, we’ve been in the same location throughout our 40s (and into our 50s), and of course, in my case, that meant I had a lot of books to work with.
While our earthly possessions will move from our old home to our new home in one day, the actual process of deciding which book to move has taken more than a month. First, I threw about 10 boxes into temporary storage because it seems that potential buyers see many books as “messy” rather than “convenient”.
After the house was sold, it was the process of packing the books in boxes, which inevitably required me to decide which books to keep and which to look for a new home.
There are practical options, and books that relate directly to my professional work are easy choices to keep, but most books are in other, more sketchy places. Most are books (especially novels and collections of short stories) that I’ve read, and I probably won’t read them again, but I won’t throw them away.
I’ve used the Marie Kondo method, asking myself if every book “sparks excitement” and the answer in most cases is “yes.”
But why? Why do I cling to inanimate objects in this way? What relationship has been formed?
Not too much, but I think it’s about capital A “Art.”
For this I will turn to my old friend Leo Tolstoy who had this to say about “art” (or “Art”), “To awaken in a person the feelings that have been experienced, and having aroused them in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, color, sound, or form expressed in words, so as to transmit that feeling so that others may experience the same feeling — this is an artistic activity.”
In other words, what Leo is saying from an artist’s point of view is that his job is to capture life experiences with such fidelity, that the artist can then transmit that feeling to the viewer/listener/reader through their medium of expression.
As a reader, I have accepted this transference many times, and it is these books that I have carefully packaged in the box that have conveyed those experiences.
Moving house means lots of books to pack. Why do we keep the books that we hold on to for years? (JORG GREUEL/Getty Images)
So, for example, when I picked up James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room,” I remembered the pain of sadness and romance that the book caused.
When I saw Sam Lisyte’s “Land of the House,” I remember laughing breathlessly, on a plane surrounded by strangers, no less. It’s a worn paperback, in terrible shape because I’ve lent it and taught from it, unsightly on the shelf, but in a box.
Since I’ve had a lot of books and I’m getting older, I might forget the art experience if I don’t have books to remind me. This happened with Elizabeth Strout’s “Anything is Possible,” a book that made me really wish that in the real world people could be as nice to each other as they were in the book world.
When piled up in the living room of the house we left behind, my books take up more space than anything else from the kitchen, a ratio that leaves me disappointed and more than a little proud.
That’s obvious. I may have finished reading these books, but I am not done with them.
John Warner is the author of “Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Needs.”
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you read
1. “One Day I Will Shock The World” by Nina Stibbe
3. “I’m Not Sidney Poitier” by Percival Everett
4. “A Far Cry from Kensington” by Muriel Spark
5. “Wedding Materials” by Sathnam Sanghera
For Cheryl, I recommend a close personal story that has much greater resonance in culture at large, “Transcendent Kingdom” by Yaa Gyasi.
1. “In Another Land” by Sarah Rees Brennan
2. “Amazing Light” by Freya Marske
3. “Mended Mirror” by Alix E. Harrow
4. “To Not Say Dogs” by Connie Willis
5. “Don’t Do That Again” by Grant Ginder
Maria seems to be interested in some stories with significant fantastical or supernatural elements, but is more a vehicle for the human story beneath. I think Max Barry’s “Lexicon” will be a fun and encouraging reading experience for him.
1. “Dare Me” by Megan Abbott
2. “Anxious Man” by Fredrik Backman
3. “Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles
4. “Henrietta’s Lack of Eternal Life” by Rebecca Skloot
5. “The Lincoln Lawyer” by Michael Connelly
We now know her from the otherworldly wonders of “Station Eleven” and “Sea of Tranquility,” but Emily St. John Mandel started his career with some very complex and very engaging noirish novels. For Lisa, I recommend “Last Night in Montreal.”
Get readings from the Biblioracle
Send a list of the last five books you have read and your hometown to biblioracle@gmail.com.
