Mr. Bradbury, It's Happening Already!
Saw this article at Danielle's and thought it apropos in light (no pun intended) of my recent posts.
And yes, it does seem like a tricky way to sell books. But what it sounds like to me is that the bookstore owner just got really frustrated that he couldn't get rid of his books the way he originally wanted to and needed to take out his aggression.
Either way, it's an awfully dramatic move.
And it's true. It's hard to say much more without being judgmental.
See comments for more discussion.
And yes, it does seem like a tricky way to sell books. But what it sounds like to me is that the bookstore owner just got really frustrated that he couldn't get rid of his books the way he originally wanted to and needed to take out his aggression.
Either way, it's an awfully dramatic move.
And it's true. It's hard to say much more without being judgmental.
See comments for more discussion.
posted by Camille at 1:41 PM
7 Comments:
I saw that in a couple places, and I didn't comment because I don't know what to say that doesn't sound just plain judgmental. I think there's never a good reason to burn books. Aside from the symbolism of the act, there are just too many places in the world that would treasure the "scraps" of unwanted books that bookstores can't sell.
Dewey--I think you're absolutely right and now I'm thinking I shouldn't have said, "It's not the burning that's alarming..." because it IS alarming.
I had the same reaction you did at first, but after reading Sam's comment on my post I thought maybe the owner was being a bit melodramatic? I am sure the impetus was a true feeling, but not sure about how he went about it all. Still I suppose it has got people talking...
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I agree when I first saw it I was again feeling sad about how no one reads, etc. So obviously he made an impact, but now I wish he had donated the books or done something a bit different instead to get his point across.
Danielle and Iliana--I totally agree that this was not the best way to go about getting his point across. Totally overdramatic and destructive. And book burning has huge negative historical connotations.
Perhaps I'm overly cynical, but I see this as a ridiculous publicity stunt that's garnered his store and publishing company a lot of attention. I think there were plenty of options open to him besides book burning.
The difference is he wasn't burning the books because of the content of. But I know he could have found something else to do with them. Senior citizen homes, school fund-raisers, Goodwill, etc. I agree with Lesley---publicity.
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