The Way I Buy Books, The Way I Read Books

On 26/09/2015, I uploaded an album to my old Facebook account—photographs of books from my collection. That day I wrote this post:

Please do not feel embarrassed to ask for books.

I would give away my heart if you asked! But books?
Never, never!

The treatment you get when you lend books and then ask for them back—
it makes you feel like a thief yourself. Better this way: neither ask nor give.

It’s not easy keeping track of so many book titles. Every now and then I’ve ended up buying the same book twice. If anyone can name such a duplicate, I could give that one away.

By the way,
I haven’t read most of what’s in my collection yet. From various memoirs I’ve gathered that among Bengali writers, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Sunil Gangopadhyay, and Manabendra Bandyopadhyay read the most books. In Nirad C. Chaudhuri’s writing I see he had read 10,000 books. I wonder in amazement—how is that possible!! Though I don’t know the figures for the others.

On 27/09/2015, I posted this:

After posting pictures of my book collection yesterday, I received quite a few questions and comments. I’ve gathered some of them together to create something like an FAQ.

It would be better if you arranged the books by subject or author.

…………
Absolutely true! But organizing them properly can’t be done in a day. And since I have a transferable job, I’m not always at home. It might happen someday—someone will do it for me. Who will do it?
Figure it out!

Where did you buy these books?

…………….
From Bangladesh mostly. Some books from Calcutta and Singapore.

How long have you been buying them? How?

……………
For a very long time! Wandering around! With tremendous, tremendous effort! There are books in my collection that I don’t think many people in Bangladesh possess. I don’t know of anyone in Bangladesh who’s a major dealer in good books but hasn’t seen my face.

Don’t books get stolen?

……………
Not much theft,
but many people have borrowed books and never returned them. They thought—what glory is there in wealth in another’s hands! Better to possess it myself! Therein lies all happiness. When you lend books, you have to play the complete beggar to get them back. Unbearable!

How do you maintain them?

…………….
I arrange them on shelves,
on tables,
scattered here and there—that’s all! Family members dust them,
put naphthalene balls occasionally.

Have you read them all?

…………..
No! Haven’t read even one-fifteenth of them. I often think—every person really, really, really needs a separate reading lifetime.

Do you read books completely?

……………..
No,
I don’t do that either. Some books I flip through. With some books, while reading, I think—no need to read further—then I put them aside. I’ve finished only a few books completely. The number of unread and half-read books is much greater than the fully read ones.

Do you read more books by major writers?

……………..
Not exactly. I don’t have that attitude of “must read Rabindranath because he’s Rabindranath.” My collection has the complete works of major writers. That doesn’t mean I have to read everything of theirs. For instance, I didn’t understand James Joyce much when I read him. I’ve read little of his work. That doesn’t mean his writing isn’t good. It means either his writing isn’t for me, or I picked up something of his that doesn’t suit my reading mind. To me, Manik’s novels are many times better than Bankimchandra’s novels, Jibanananda’s poetry is better than Rabindranath’s poetry, Rabindranath’s songs are better than any other songwriter’s songs, Galpaguchchha is better than any other story collection. This doesn’t make anyone greater or lesser. My reading habits depend on my personal taste. There are some foreign language writers whom people might not know much about—they’re not in the limelight—but they’re very important writers. I collect their works too, in Bengali or English translation.

How many books have you read in total?

………………
Who could ask such a question—if I’d known earlier, I would have counted books as I read them. Sorry boss,
made a mistake. Won’t happen again. Hahaha…….

Do you select books by their covers?

……………….
Yes,
I do. Before buying a book, I check whether it’s worth buying at all. Life is short! There are so many good books to read, to buy, to keep in one’s collection. What’s the point of elevating bad writers? Anyone can write—that doesn’t mean everyone should. Writing bad books and annoying people is a kind of crime. If only bad writers understood how much effort it takes to read a book! How would they understand! They don’t read, they only write.

Do you buy more books by Nobel Prize winners?

………………
Not necessarily. I buy those too, and books that have won various other prizes. Like the Pulitzer Prize, Academy Awards, Bangla Academy Awards, many others! Reviews of foreign books are available on the internet. I read them and buy books. I peek into The Paris Review, take good advice from writers. Now, have all good writers received the Nobel? Tolstoy didn’t get the Nobel. I feel the Nobel Prize simply lacks the capacity to contain him. If ‘Kavi’ or ‘Putulnacher Itikotha’ were properly translated and evaluated, the Nobel Committee would have acknowledged that Tarashankar-Manik deserve the Nobel several times over.

Doesn’t it hurt that you buy so many books but don’t read them?
What’s the point of buying?

…………………
Yes,
it does! I want to tell God—give me just one more small lifetime so I could read some good books! Sometimes I think of saying goodbye to my job just to read Rabindranath. And what’s the point of buying?
First tell me—what’s the point of not buying?
Buying books increases happiness. How much people run around chasing a little happiness, isn’t it so?
They’d even give their lives hoping for a little happiness! I just trade money for happiness. To me,
Money is the cheapest bargain! I liked a book but returned home from the bookstore without buying it. The pain of that is immense! I can’t sleep at night, I feel restless. Better this way: buy the book, read it or don’t, stay mentally at peace. Work gets done well too. Tell anyone you’ll bring them peace for a certain amount of money. You’ll see how readily they agree. I bet you the cost of a few good books is less than one-tenth of that.

Is there any book that made you very happy when you got hold of it?

………………
Many! One name comes to mind right now: Italo Calvino’s Invisible
Cities. When I saw the book in the store, I felt like quietly going to the counter and quickly paying for it to make it mine—afraid that someone else might see the book before me and buy it away! Oh yes, another such book was Rhonda Byrne’s The
Secret. This book completely changed my life!

Do you want to open a bookstore?

……………
No! If I opened a bookstore, my love for books would disappear.

Why aren’t you writing books?

…………….
Writing books requires a lot of qualifications, extensive study and experience. I’m not yet prepared to write books. Besides, I don’t get the time that writing demands. What’s needed most is patience. I have considerable deficiency in that area.

Do you finish a book in one sitting?

……………..
Depends……. If a book can’t hold my attention, I don’t hold onto the book. I sit with several books at once. After going some distance with one book, I might get busy with another, leaving the previous one—this happens often. Not all books are for reading. Some books are for display. Good books; therefore, I too should have a copy. That’s why I buy books.

When buying books, do you buy more books by the greats?

……………
Yes,
I do buy them. Whatever catches my fancy,
or whoever is great,
whatever is written about them,
or whatever they write,
I invariably buy it. I’ve always had this blind reverence for greatness. Take for instance,
there’s no good book about Suchitra Sen in the market
that I don’t own. After watching Satyajit Ray’s ‘Charulata,’ I developed a crush on Madhabi Mukherjee. From that day onwards, I watched all her films and bought every book written about her. There are many others like this. Just the other day I saw on a book’s back flap
that the author had topped both the Indian Police Service exam first, then the Indian Administrative Service exam. No small feat! These are incredibly tough exams! His name is T. N. Seshan. Such a person’s writing must be read. This is like a rule for me. Some might ask,
what’s the need? I don’t care. I’ve decided to follow my own rules when it comes to reading and learning.

Where do you get book recommendations from?

……………
By studying the reading habits of various great writers. I read their memoirs,
interviews,
watch them online too.
For instance,
I’ve collected many book names from The Paris Review. From Goodreads, Amazon, Times,
Guardian, Telegraph, and various other sources I try to learn about books. I take recommendations from many people too. But I don’t take book recommendations from someone who doesn’t study much themselves. Someone who doesn’t know well themselves
can’t guide others well—
that’s natural.

Why aren’t there many academic books in your collection?

……………
My question is,
why should one collect academic books?
There’s nothing to really read in them. If one didn’t have to pass exams, how many would read them?
A book that’s merely for earning one’s bread
can never be a book worth keeping in one’s collection.

What’s the point of arranging books if you can’t read them?

……………
To understand this, you’d first have to become a book collector. Learn to love books. Become mature enough to experience the transcendent joy of smelling books. Master the magic of just reading a book’s flap and breaking into a smile. For me,
having the means but not buying a book causes pain
equivalent to several deaths.

How did you photograph all these books?

………………
For those on shelves,
I photographed each shelf. For those that couldn’t fit on shelves,
I gathered some together repeatedly and took multiple photos. To capture all the shots, I patiently spent nearly 3 hours with the camera, bending and twisting my body, clicking away. Quite exhausting work!

Why don’t you lend books?

……………
I used to, once. Now I’ve stopped. When you lend books, people conveniently forget to return them,
get upset when you ask for them back,
make you feel like a creditor prowling around so much that you feel like a thief yourself. Instead, I’d rather buy books as gifts—
I have no claim over them,
and they don’t have to feel awkward. Gifting someone a book brings incredible joy. That’s worth lakhs. But lending creates tension. Why bother!

Have you never stolen books yourself?

………………
I have, once or twice. Having done it myself, I know
how to stay alert around skilled book thieves.

Brother, if you have money, you can decorate your home with books like this.

……………
If you have money, you can also decorate your home with expensive showpieces. That costs much, much more! That’s not bad either. It’s a matter of taste and mentality. I want
a set of Rabindranath in my drawing room to soothe my mind;
someone else might want
a severed deer head with antlers raised high to intimidate in their drawing room. Whatever brings peace to the eyes, tranquility to the mind. That’s all there is! You can understand a person’s character by how they decorate their home.

You posted those pictures just to show off.

……………
You’ve got it exactly right. Just as you have nothing but burger-bite selfies for showing off,
I have books along with that for my showing off. I’m thinking of doing my next show-off with movies and music. Get ready to be envious. If you can do it yourself, do it;
if not, be envious. Both paths are open before you.

You have books,
so what’s that to me?
Why post and announce it?

………………
Perhaps nothing to you. But it means a lot to many others! I too feel happy when someone posts book pictures,
get some book recommendations,
makes buying convenient. If you don’t like it,
just ignore it. I’m not tagging you and bothering you.

What should one keep in mind when buying books?

…………..
There’s no ‘should keep in mind.’
Buying books is also an art. It can’t be mastered in a day. One has to invest time over many days. In my life, of all the time I’ve spent outside home, most of it has been spent in bookshops. Many days have passed like this—
from morning till night,
the entire day spent going from bookstore to bookstore. While my friend spent time chatting,
going on dates,
I spent those hours handling books for hours on end,
my hands, eyes, face covered in dust,
laboriously carrying loads of books home. Buying good books encourages good writers. I keep this in mind when buying—
perhaps out of every 7 books, 1 might appeal to me. But I don’t know which one will appeal.
So I buy several books that might appeal to me. Sometimes even just reading a book’s flap makes the purchase worthwhile.

You’re doing very subtle publicity,
looking for a wife for yourself. You’re suggesting that marrying you would give access to your books.

…………
Natural. My books will go to my wife, not to yours, right?
Or would you be happy if she got them?
And
marrying me would mean living through the torment of books-movies-music-writing. Yes,
she’ll get everything else too,
but she’ll have to accept this along with it. Isn’t it better if she comes into my life knowing everything?
Otherwise she’ll run away later. Then where will I find a wife?
And getting married repeatedly is quite a hassle!

Are all the books original copies?

………….
Yes. I collect books,
so I buy originals. My collection might have a handful of 10-12 photocopies of books whose originals I couldn’t find.

You live away from home for work. How do you keep books with you?

…………
I bear the trouble of carrying books. And I keep with me only as many books as I think I can finish reading before my next trip home. Wherever I am, whenever,
book buying continues. That’s how it is!

You can’t read books but you buy them—isn’t this a waste of money?

………….
Brother,
the money it takes to buy a medium-sized Cadbury,
that money can buy a good book. Of course, books can’t be eaten,
that’s true. Try buying your girlfriend books occasionally! She’ll be happy enough. If she doesn’t have a reading habit,
why not help her develop one! Girlfriends who don’t read at all are usually stupid. Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable spending life with someone stupid?

E-books are available these days. Then why this library?

……………
Besides intercourse, there’s also the ‘softcopy pleasure’ of intercourse—
meaning e-sexual pleasure. Then why intercourse?
The joy of reading books by touching them, marking them—
how is that possible with e-books?
A book is before my eyes,
I can flip through it whenever I want—
this feeling is dreamlike. Besides,
reading with eyes fixed on monitors/mobile screens or reader displays feels somehow uncomfortable. Those who understand the difference between kissing over phone and kissing face-to-face
find it difficult to accept the helplessness of phone kisses when they have the means for real ones. But this is true—
having soft copies of many books allows reading different flavored books based on different mood swings at various times. So it’s good to keep soft copies of some good books on the handset.

You could donate your books to some library. Many people would get the chance to read them.

…………….
At the time of my death, I’ll donate my books along with my body parts. Just as I can’t donate my eyes,
kidneys while alive,
I can’t donate books either. In my living state, I prefer to remain selfish about this for now. And even if selfish people like me don’t donate, many others do. Most of those who do donate aren’t avid readers or writers, though;
they’re education-loving wealthy individuals. Being a compassionate wealthy person is a very good thing indeed.

You came first in BCS because of your library, right?

……………
One day or another, someone will say,
“You topped the BCS exam precisely because you spend so much time in the bathroom!” Must everything be dragged back to the BCS?
Why is there so little sense in people’s heads?
Let that be. If topping the BCS exam were simply a matter of having a rich library, then the children of Bangladesh’s millionaires would be taking turns claiming first place in the BCS, one after another.

I’ve received one question several times—how many books do you have in your collection?

Another request has come:
Don’t you have a catalog of your books?
If you do, could you share it a bit…………

Answer to the first: I haven’t counted.

Regarding the second,
Unfortunately, creating a catalog hasn’t been possible for me yet. If someone has already made a list by looking through the photos of my book collection,
please give it to me. Or if someone is planning the grand project of cataloging them,
please do so. Such a list would be useful to me and many others. If I get a list like that, I’ll organize it a bit, create notes, and post it on Facebook. I’ll truly be grateful if someone kindly does this work for me. As a gift, I’ll buy you any three books of your choice from my collection (with some exceptions). If any of the three books you choose are ones I haven’t read yet,
I’ll give you those directly from my collection. I won’t give away books I’ve already read,
because I read books by marking them up;
I don’t want to part with books I’ve marked up.

Happy Reading!!

I’m sharing the link to my book collection album below:

(My previous ID no longer exists;
I lost many treasures along with it.)