Nov 10, 2008

Of BIBLIOPHILIA & BIBLIOCLASM

Bibliophilia - n. the love of books, esp. collecting them as examples of fine or unusual printing, binding, or the like.

Biblioclasm - n. destruction of books; destructive criticism of Bible. biblioclast, n. person so destroying or criticizing.

The New English Review published a great article by Theodore Dalyrmple, titled Of Bibliophilia and Biblioclasm.
Here is an excerpt from the article.

In 1936, George Orwell published a little essay entitled Bookshop Memories. In it, he recalled his time as an assistant in a second-hand bookshop, a time that was happy only when viewed through the soft-focus lens of nostalgia. Irony might be defined as disgust recalled in tranquillity, and Orwell’s essay is nothing if not full of irony. He was glad to have had the experience, no doubt, but more glad that it was over.

Not much has changed in the three quarters of a century that have elapsed since Orwell’s experience as a bookseller. Second-hand bookshops the world over still tend to be inadequately heated places, Orwell says because the owners fear condensation in the windows, but also because profits are small and heating bills would be large. There is a peculiar chill, quite unlike any other, to be experienced between the stacks of second-hand bookshops.



-FUPPETS- falls right into the Bibliophile category, and seeks to maliciously inflict massive pain and suffering upon the Biblioclasmic idiots of the world. Books are the one method that the human race has had to ensure the spread of information, not just from person to person, but from century to century, and even millennium to millennium. If there is one thing a human can do to better themselves in life it is to learn to read and to utilize that ability to it's fullest, day in and day out. It is no one's fault but yourself if you stay ignorant.

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