A stack of unread books does not have to represent how much a person knows as much as how much they want to know. While many of us who experience tsundoku feel guilty about it, the Japanese did not use the term in a pejorative way. Writer Umberto Eco had a collection of 30,000 books, representing not only his vast amount of knowledge but his desire to keep on learning.
While many of us who experience tsundoku feel guilty about it, the Japanese did not use the term in a pejorative way.
Intellectual humility, defined as “the degree to which people realize that their beliefs might be wrong,” involves knowing that your knowledge is limited and propels us to keep reading and learning, never being certain that we know enough. This describes many who practice the art of tsundoku.
Although many readers buy their books online, rarely or never entering a bookstore, browsing is a favorite activity for those of us who spontaneously pick up a book and buy it even though we have a veritable treasure trove at home just begging to be read. There are several factors contributing to a purchase, which might include the subject, the title, if someone has recommended it, whether it’s a new book by a favorite author or a writer you’ve heard about and wanted to read.
When browsing in a bookstore, book covers are often a point of attraction. Susan Mitchell, a former Art Director at Vintage Books and a former Vice-President/Art Director at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, says, “A cover that has an interesting way of juxtaposing elements with a surprising image, often with a sense of humor or irony, is bound to garner attention. Design elements, geometrics and non-pictorial graphics are also important enticements.”
A Look at the Bookshelf
What might be found on the bookshelf of someone who appreciates the pleasure of Tsundoku? The possibilities are endless, with genres ranging from cookbooks to science fiction to graphic novels to memoirs and everything in between. My pile, 50 or 60 books worth, contains both “Heidi” and “Pollyanna,” two books I loved as a young girl. There is a book on denizens of the sea, bought after I devoured “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” a book about a giant octopus named Marcellus and his friendship with the widow who cleans at the aquarium where he lives.
“I hope to read many or most of my books, but even if I don’t, that’s okay.”
There’s “Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone” (because the title made me laugh) and “Old Age Is Always 15 Years Older Than I Am,” (because the older I get the truer it is.) There’s “More or Less Maddy,” the latest novel by neuroscientist and novelist Lisa Genova, one of my favorite writers. Although people have diverse ways of shelving their collection of unread books (including piles on floors, tables and even tops of refrigerators), mine is randomly stacked on a bookshelf, ready to be plucked out whenever the mood hits me.
Julianne Buonocore, a book expert and founder of Friday Night Readers, a leading online book content provider, says that she likes to collect books from her childhood for nostalgia purposes, as well as “pretty” editions of the classics, which are nice to look at, and books for her Gilmore Girls reading challenge. “I hope to read many or most of my books, but even if I don’t, that’s okay. I think most people won’t read their tsundoku. The biggest dopamine hit, after all, can often come in getting the book. After that, life can get in the way.”
Vicki DeArmon, publisher of Sibylline Press, a collaborative publishing company which exclusively publishes books by women over fifty, says, “Books are possibilities. They are all the untaken roads. And so, people buy books to open those doors, to chase down those possibilities. They are looking for immersion into different worlds, and often have the character traits of dreamers, explorers, entrepreneurs, seekers. They are the type of people who believe that there is more to be learned and more to be experienced.”
DeArmon adds, “I stockpile books for that future where I imagine myself stranded on a deserted island with nothing to do but read. And I always think that day is coming. Until then I read maybe 10% of the books I own in the nooks and crannies of a very busy life. Audio books have driven up that percentage.”
“I can’t go into a bookstore without buying a book.”
She and her husband now travel and live in a large RV, which forced her to give her roomful of 1000 plus books to her brother to hold for her. But, she says, “Every now and then, my husband will find in the RV some newly acquired books stashed under our headboard, in the pantry, or in the back corner of the closet, waiting to come out at midnight when he’s asleep. I can’t go into a bookstore without buying a book.”
Now that digital books are easily accessible, with E-readers, tablets and smartphones offering convenient ways to store them, some people are now experiencing “digital tsundoku.” Whether you read what I call “real books” or the digital versions, that stash that will someday be savored and enjoyed is as precious as the brightest, shiniest diamond.
Architect Luc van Donkersgoed has written, “Think not of the books you’ve bought as a ‘to be read’ pile. Instead, think of your bookcase as a wine cellar. You collect books to be read at the right time, the right place and the right mood.”