Black and white pictures always impact my attention, and again for this time. Two guys are looking some books at the sidewalk somewhere in New York. As you may see in many films that there often have some sidewalk bookstore scene are shot for background. Moreover, street booksellers could be the most important part for New Yorker as well as hotdog carts. It is a culture. In Stars of the Stalls, Simon Akam, a Fulbright shcolar who wonder which book are the most to be selling in this kind of store, he worked out for the result. So this post is related to book or literature that may not interesting for some people but for me I'm interested for this style of shop because the books in the secondhand shop are cheaper than when they are in formal bookstore. And when I scrolled down I found the list that make me surprised.
Akam S. gathered the data in four areas around New York that would tell the reading style and trend in that particular place. After several weeks in tally the information, the result back up his belief that "The Great Gatsby" , "The Grapes of Wrath" and 2 novels by Hernest Hemingway that they are all the top lists for every areas. But there are some strange on the list that the authors are neither American nor dead and that is really surprised me. The number one is "Atonement" by English author, Ian McEwan, "The Kite Runner" by Afghanian write, Khaled Hosseini and the third one is "Love in the time of Cholera" by the famous author Gabriel Garcia Marqez. For the list Akam S. still doubted that was it an honour for an author or was an insult for the author's reputation? So he need to find out whether the top lists were so much loved or worthless. For the new coming such as "Atonement" and "The Kite Runner" they had been made for a film, and Corey Eastwood, a bookseller, pointed out that "oftentimes a movie will kill the book" so when people had seen the movie they will sell the book. On the other hand, with classic novel, such as novel by Fitzgerald and Hemingway, Eastwood stated that because they are the most printed of English literature, and they often be read in school.
After reading , it remind me once when I was an university student, I used to be a music seller in used music shop. And the best selling list for that shop was totally different in the mainstream music stores. I think music shop or book shop, they might have something in common that which is most wanted list, it might be the oldie or "classic" thing.
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Nid,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. I've just spent several hours reviewing essays, which is a bit exhausting (and I'm still not finished). And just before switching off for the night and meeting up with friends I checked and found your fascinating report and delightful response to the 2nd hand book carts of New York.
I like books, so your post was not at all boring, and i liked your comments. I was also pleased to see some of my favourite books do well in the rankings, although poor Miss Austen of Pride and Prejudice fame didn't get a mention!
Thank you Peter,
ReplyDeleteto be the first and promptly respond in my post. I also like books and agree with you that Pride and Prejudice didn't get in the top rank. And what am I really surprised is Atonement that is the first ranking in chart. However, after I read for the reason it make me little upset maybe because it had been made for the film.
Finally, I must confess that I never read Atonement but I really love that film, have you ever read this book?
I like your article very much because book store is my favourite place in which I would like to spend time wandering around, skimming through as many books as possible and as time is allowed..
ReplyDeleteWhen I am in a book shop, I, most of the time, would like to buy all the books that I touch, which are both in and out my field of expertise. I, therefore, would have to suppress my temptation and buy just one or two.
This also reminds me that these days people tend to read online, which causes a great decline in book marketing. Now they have e-book or free articles online that save them an amount of money.
I myself prefer to read a "real" book for a number of reasons. First of all, I can make a note or scribble my ideas, popping up while reading. Secondly, some topics require "close reading", which needs a lot of attention and reread to understand the detail in depth.
Do you guys prefer reading traditionally or online?
Thank you Petch,
ReplyDeleteFor me, personally I really like to spend time in book shop too, I wander round, after I looking something new in my field that related to my career, then I will walk through almost every section. And this habit make me hurt my leg sometimes, the most important thing is I also want to buy many books at the same time.
For the question you asking, I do prefer concrete books and I agree with you that we can note and do whatever we like on the books. And me, I really like to write or underline, draw etc. in my books, but it's quite a shame when someone else borrow my books.
So Thank you for "post it"
Physically, I have no doubt why you love books. ;)
I've always wanted to buy them all, too.
ReplyDeleteI scribble in text books (my copy of Quest is full of scribbles, crossing outs, notes, cross references and all sorts of things), but I rarely scribble in academic books, preferring to make notes on scraps of paper. Journal articles are different: if I read one online, I often print it out and start scribbling - especially where I disagree with the writer, but also where I agree or really like something.
I don't think that anyone would my used scribble texts - my handwriting is awful (I make an effort in class, but it isn't always wonderful there, either), and probably illegible to most people. And some of my colleagues arent' much better. This term I'm teaching AEP Listening and Speaking level 2 for the first time ever, and I've inherited a colleagues used book; she wrote a lot of notes in it, but I can't read most of them. So I'm gradually replacing them with my own set of unreadable notes!
But I love teh internet for online reference works - my preferred dictionary was a real pain to use in the paper version. Its 20 very large volumes weigh more than 65 kgs, and 22,000 pages take up more than 2 meters on the shelf. I left it at home when I moved to Thailand. It just wouldn't fit in my bag. It now looks very impressive on my brother's bookshelves.
ReplyDeleteAround 1995, I got a CD version, which was far more user friendly, but for a few years now, I've subscribed to teh online version, which is brilliant: the information is easy to read, the search options are amazing, and it's constantly being updated. You can see what the entries are like by clicking the OED Word of the day link on the right.
(Although the OED is my favourite dictionary and reference work, I also use, and recommend, an advanced learner's dictionary for AEP students.)
I also enjoy buying books, which I probably find more enjoyable than reading books because I have read less than half of my total books. Sometimes I even wonder I could ever read all of them. I often bought many books with great enthusiasm at first but later many of them were pathetically covered with dust on the bookshelf. Last term, reading Pride and Prejudice was so inspirational that I bought many of Austin's works, however, Alas, without "encouragement" from Peter I still cannot finish any of them on my own.
ReplyDeleteI don't always get around to reading everything I buy in a fit of passing enthralment either.
ReplyDeleteAfter Pride and Prejudice, my favourite Austen novel is probably Sense and Sensibility, but they are all great novels that I have gotten around to reading at least a couple of times each.