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Books and Beefsteaks
- 05/05/08
- 18
Here is a quote from Mortimer Adler, author of the classic How to Read a Book. In this piece he explains the importance of making a book your own.
There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it. An illustration may make the point clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher’s icebox to your own. But you do not own the beefsteak in the most important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your blood stream to do you any good.
Confusion about what it means to “own” a book leads people to a false reverence for paper, binding, and type — a respect for the physical thing — the craft of the printer rather than the genius of the author. They forget that it is possible for a man to acquire the idea, to possess the beauty, which a great book contains, without staking his claim by pasting his bookplate inside the cover. Having a fine library doesn’t prove that its owner has a mind enriched by books; it proves nothing more than that he, his father, or his wife, was rich enough to buy them.
There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best sellers — unread, untouched. (This deluded individual owns woodpulp and ink, not books.) The second has a great many books — a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.) The third has a few books or many — every one of them dog-eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books.) …
But the soul of a book “can” be separate from its body. A book is more like the score of a piece of music than it is like a painting. No great musician confuses a symphony with the printed sheets of music. Arturo Toscanini reveres Brahms, but Toscanini’s score of the G minor Symphony is so thoroughly marked up that no one but the maestro himself can read it. The reason why a great conductor makes notations on his musical scores — marks them up again and again each time he returns to study them—is the reason why you should mark your books. If your respect for magnificent binding or typography gets in the way, buy yourself a cheap edition and pay your respects to the author.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (18)
I love that book! It is one I have made “my own.”
Yes, yes, yes!
Amen. I feel vindicated.
I am an avid, passionate reader of books…but I would have to say that as a book owner, I’m somewhere between the second and third person. I do have a lot of books that are dog-eared and worn from repeated readings, but then there are those that I have read once or twice, and they’re still in pretty good shape.
Since I get a lot of complimentary books, thanks to my profession, I find myself passing many of them along to others.
How insightful! He explained me as the second of the three types of book-owners. Sort of convicting, really. I have an inexplicable feeling that I’m defacing valuable material if I mark in a book. How I need to learn…
i’m a shameless spinebender, dogearer, highlighter, underliner, and committer of all manner of other vandalizations. it just isn’t the same if i don’t do that.
No. no. no - spinebending is nigh on unforgiveable!Underlining is essential, highlighting valuable, but never spinebending!!
:-)
A great quote! I came to the same conclusion last few years, but I started practicing the idea recently. Thanks!
AMEN. I emailed a link tot his to my husband who is constantly on my case about how I treat my books. He’s very careful with his books, even puts clear protective covers over his paperback books.
Funny, I am the one who loves to read.
Amen - books are tools…not pets! Coddle and care for your wife and kids, and maybe even your pets…but use your books for what you can get from them!
He’s very careful with his books, even puts clear protective covers over his paperback books.
I’m pretty sure there’s pills people can prescribe for that kind of behavior! :)
Although I agree completely and I’ve evolved (slowly) from an “owner wood pulp and ink” to an “owner of books”, I have to admit this was a struggle for me for two reasons:
First, we were told over and over again in school, since the time we first started to read, that, above all else, “YOU MUST TAKE CARE OF YOUR BOOKS!!!!”. Not only did they promise to charge you for any damage done to a book (although I never saw anyone actually get charged with such a crime), but, at the end of each year, you had to bring you books up to the front of the class and present them the teacher who noted, for all to see and hear, whether you were a good steward of your books or an evil, thoughtless and disrespectful vandal.
Second, my reputation was at stake. I’m exaggerating, but what I mean is my pride got in the way (as it tends to do). Too often I got more concerned about what others might think of me if I were to do something like, shame of shame, highlight the “wrong” section than I did about noting a section of a book that particularly interested me or that I was unclear about.
I’ve pretty much overcome my book “issues”, thanks in large part to Adler’s book. It is an awesome read. (I also still love the irony and humor of having to read a book to learn how to read a book!!)
I’ve pretty much overcome my book “issues”, thanks in large part to Adler’s book. It is an awesome read. (I also still love the irony and humor of having to read a book to learn how to read a book!!)
I was expecting to see him deal with this irony in the book’s first paragraph. But it didn’t really come up. I know that if I had written this book I wouldn’t have been able to leave it alone (kind of like C.J. Mahaney writing on humility—how can you not point out at the irony of writing on such a topic).
What Adler seems to miss, however, is that there are those who collect books both for their soul and for their aesthetic beauty.
I have a few books in my library of which I have two copies—a nice copy that is read for pleasure and handled carefully because of its rarity or specialness, and a duplicate copy that’s marked up, underlined, etc.
I disagree that a book has to be maligned to be owned. It’s very possible to truly own a book without maligning it.
I must take minor issue with one portion:
There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best sellers — unread, untouched. (This deluded individual owns woodpulp and ink, not books.) The second has a great many books — a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.) The third has a few books or many — every one of them dog-eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books.)
When I was a child, I was an avid reader (I’d still be an avid reader if I had the time) with many books in my collection that I’d read and re-read (“Centenial” by James Michener being one of my favorites and Louis L’Amour, Kenneth Robeson & J.R.R. Tolkien being some of my favorite authors). However my Aunt was the chief librarian for the small county in which I lived. Since the sole library was my “home away from home” my Aunt had a major influence not only on my reading habits but also how I treated books. No folding the page corners to mark my place. No laying the book down in the “open” position in order to protect the spine. If you wanted to make notes, use a notebook — that’s what notebooks are for. That sort of thing. So most of my books remained in pristine condition for years even though I read and re-read them. Later in life I discovered acid-free polypropylene book sleeves in which one could store their books protected from insects, moisture, etc. Yeah, I was obsessive-compulsive as a kid about my books and even today I cannot bear dog-earing a book but will find something to use as a bookmark.
So, in essence I claim that one may be a boook owner, avid reader and still keep one’s books in near-mint condition if one is so inclined. Consider that perhaps a fourth type of book owner.
Ditto Carl.
I’m amazed at how some treat books like one-use, disposable items. A book well cared for can be passed down for generations. I have many books that I would not have if not for the provenance of previous owners. I’m thankful that they didn’t need to destroy them in order to use them. Many are out of print now. When I’m done with them — and they will have been used, and owned — I hope to pass them on to my children and others who will also use and own them. This is just good stewardship.
Of course, sometimes marking a book is necessary and profitable. But beating them up like a car in a demolition derby? Inconceivable.
Ahhh, stewardship. Well that’s an entirely different thing than ownership. Take the beefsteak for instance…
thanks for the great quote, tim! i have a quick question, though. i heard some time ago that the ‘new, revised’ edition of How to Read a Book is skewed towards reader response. can you comment on this? should i look for an older copy, or can i pick up the one on amazon that has van doren listed as co-author? thanks!