Tuesday, August 30, 2011
A Response to “Never Do That to a Book” by Anne Fadiman
“Just think what courtly lovers miss by believing that the only thing they are permitted to do with books is read them! What do they use for shims, doorstops, glueing weights, and rug-flatteners" (Fadiman, 41)?
In this statement, Fadiman gives us a glimpse into her own personal feelings about books. It seems as if she is expressing pity for those who love books in a “courtly” (Fadiman 38) manner, or in a way that regards the physical elements of a book as sacred and worthy only to be used as a channel through which words are read. At the same time, she also seems to be exulting in the fact that she has the privilege of relating to books with a “carnal love” (Fadiman 38). This type of love sees a book as a mere shell that is not nearly as important as the treasure contained within. Carnal love treats books as not only books but as various instruments such as “shims, doorstops, glueing weights, and rug flatteners” (Fadiman 41). She writes in a conversational manner, in a way that makes me think that she is sitting across from me at a table and telling a story. It seems unlikely that this type of book-love classification is a new concept, but the way Fadiman described how these types of love are expressed shocked me to attention. Her vivid imagery throughout the piece not only painted a picture of the differences between courtly and carnal love, but it also caused me to immediately think about how I treated books and what that meant about my own relationship with them. Did I love them courtly or carnally? Or, perhaps I felt both types of love? Faidman herself later admitted that she would not dare desecrate the encyclopedia as she would her novels, so it seemed appropriate to think that one’s manner of love toward a book could be a mix of both types of love. Through this story, I felt that I had traveled through a maze of stories and images; at the end of this piece, I did not want to leave because of the delightful places and people I had encountered.
~Anna Remer
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I felt the same way when I read Faidman's story. I went back and thought about what I did after I was done reading a certain book momentarily. Did I just throw it down on a table or did I make sure it was placed "appropriately" some where in my room? You are so right when you spoke about her vivid imagery and how she told it just like a story. It was extremely helpful because it made it easier to read.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you questioned your own treatment of books, because I think most of us did after reading the story. Just as Fadiman questioned her own love for books, the story makes us scared, scared that maybe we don't truly love books the way we thought we did. It's an excellent piece of writing for doing that.
ReplyDeleteLike most of us, I also question how I treated the books I own. Something I noticed, and probably the same with Fideman, that the way we treat our books depends on their value. For example an encyclopedia is much more "prestigious" than a regular fiction book.
ReplyDeleteAnna, good post! I am really curious about where the class comes down on courtly vs. carnal. Should we use this test as a sort of judgment?
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