Warm up Icebreaker – Phillip Adams post on Twitter helped me this month as I negotiate books I haven’t read yet, have had around for decades, and still don’t want to let go of…
Phillip Adams… 4 June 2024 Twitter…. 12 midnight… “Echoing Eco I’ve got just as many as Umberto - accumulated over a long life of collecting, reading and interviewing authors. You can’t have too many books. Good night...
Phillip Adams… 4 June 2024 Twitter…. 12 midnight… “Echoing Eco I’ve got just as many as Umberto - accumulated over a long life of collecting, reading and interviewing authors. You can’t have too many books. Good night...
Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:
It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.
“There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. “If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice! “Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity”.
Talk about a collection you have which includes being able to choose ‘the right …. For that moment…’ When did you start the collection, how did it grow? Give an example of some examples of when you have chosen from it for the moment….What decisions do you or have you faced about its future?
It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.
“There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. “If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice! “Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity”.
Talk about a collection you have which includes being able to choose ‘the right …. For that moment…’ When did you start the collection, how did it grow? Give an example of some examples of when you have chosen from it for the moment….What decisions do you or have you faced about its future?
Next months topics - July 15
‘My Gap Year’
Write about a time when you took, or circumstances meant that you took, time out from your ‘regular’ life or veered off an intended path for a year or so. What happened? What did you learn from doing so?
(Member’s Choice Topic – Bev Morton 2022) - u3abenalla.weebly.com/beverleys-page/my-gap-year
‘My ( …. )’
As we go through life the beginnings and endings of 'life stages' can be marked with events. Looking back over your life, think about an event, the stage it marked, and the results, hopefully fruits of this transition. (If you have been in the class for some time, pick a life stage which you haven’t written about before).
‘My Gap Year’
Write about a time when you took, or circumstances meant that you took, time out from your ‘regular’ life or veered off an intended path for a year or so. What happened? What did you learn from doing so?
(Member’s Choice Topic – Bev Morton 2022) - u3abenalla.weebly.com/beverleys-page/my-gap-year
‘My ( …. )’
As we go through life the beginnings and endings of 'life stages' can be marked with events. Looking back over your life, think about an event, the stage it marked, and the results, hopefully fruits of this transition. (If you have been in the class for some time, pick a life stage which you haven’t written about before).
