:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 ::

In the Bookbarn

I posted about the free-for-all at the Bookbarn a couple of weeks ago. The opening of the doors at the Bristol book warehouse made national news.

The capitalist past of me was offended that all of those books, some of which were mine that I had taken there for them to sell on my behalf, were just being given away. I felt better about this once I'd visited and made up for my losses.

The anarchist past of me loved the idea of the free distribution of knowledge.

The liberal part of me loved the fact that all sections of society were represented, from charities, to students, to squatters with dogs, to opportunistic wheeler dealers, to pensioners with walking sticks, all picking through the mess.

The English part of me loved how polite everyone was. There was no barging, no shouting, no fighting over anything. Just a melancholic air of acceptance of the literary post-apocalyptic feeling that pervaded.

If ever anyone wanted to stage an intellectual coup d’état in the UK all they would need to do would be to spray all the books in a warehouse like this with legionnaires, open the doors to the public and leak the story to the press. You would wipe out every free thinker in the area. I'm sure there's a book in that.*

* Idea published under a non-profit creative commons licence, thank you very much.

Labels: Books, Bristol, Flickr, Literature, News, Photography

:: Dan 10.3.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Someone left a Christian comic book on my desk this morning. I was just reaching for a pen to start putting provoking thoughts and comments in the margins when I accidentally caught my hot-water mug and emptied it's content over my desk. A sign from God? Or a co-incidence brought about by fatigue, the advent of daylight saving time, a cat sleeping on my head, and generally gamminess? Just in case I think I'll become a born-again Christian. As soon as I've dealt with the mess. At least it's forced the long intended desk clean.

Some of the damaged was absorbed by beer coasters (three of them - you never know how many you might need on your desk) and a foam mouse mat but I do have some books that are in need drying out now. The divine power of the internet provides the following advice on saving wet books.

There's a handy quick summary here, a guide to the relative merits of different techniques here [PDF], some professional advice on the freezing technique here, the Library of Congress procedure here, a shortened summary of the LoC procedure here, and finally some advice on storage if you can't get to work on it immediately.

Labels: Books

:: Dan 2.4.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Popmatters interviews Steven Johnson about his new book The Ghost Map: A Street, an Epidemic and the Two Men Who Battled to Save Victorian London [paperback due in Oct]. The interview alone brings up some fascinating ideas and questions. If the book is anywhere near as inspiring as it sounds it'll be a good read. Remember, this is from the author of Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software so it should be good. Taking the "long zoom" look at society and networks. More intriguing in the connections it draws and more robust an approach than lateral thinking will ever get you. The Ghost Map concerns itself with the story of the cholera outbreak in Victorian London, allowing it to analyze that time of amazing flux in the same way Gibson and Sterling attempted (in fiction form) in The Difference Engine, although their attempt failed to pull it all together in the end. Evolving maps have always fascinated me too. The recent exhibition of London maps at the British Museum was mesmerising. I'm going to end this post now before I meander too much.
[via lmg]

Labels: Books, Literature, Maps, science

:: Dan 9.5.07 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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