bookcase

Zhou Jiaying, the author of "Bookstore Daily", "Bookstore Scene" and "Bookstore Sometimes", organized a "Bookcase for Sale Series" before the Lunar New Year, asking friends from all walks of life to guess who the owner of the bookcase is.

Because I want to hold the room before the New Year (I call it limited), in response to the old lady's request, I took one of the bookcases, took this photo, and gave it to her. [Picture 1] She wrote "No more send😆". I replied, "What the hell, there was so much dust in the past. Now Liangshui Mi can be seen as a servant."

Indeed, my bookcase is "not visible", because it is always full, and I have to put two or three layers.

I often say that my family's books have classes. Residents who "live" in these three cabinets are public housing residents: exposed, dusty. Living upstairs and downstairs are HOS residents: there are glass sliding doors.

Across the door frame is a private residence: not only glass, but also a good view. A little further away are the high-end residences: wooden doors, outsiders will not disturb, very private space, because no one knows that it is a bookcase.

When I was erasing the book, I was thinking: Do these residents living in public housing still have the ability to go up? Probably not. Because of their "height", it just happened to fit this position. Without him, when ordering the cabinet, I gave the master the height of the shelf. The only possibility is that "I" will send them away.

At that moment I thought, maybe they like this position: books should always be seen, and they should at least be in the bookcase, because looking forward, there is a pile of books living on the roof (on the bedside table), looking to the left, Some live in temporary housing (frames made of wood), some live on the streets (on two cardboard boxes), and many more have been placed under beds (what I call a cemetery).

Jia Ying once asked me how much money I spend on books every year, but I really dare not calculate. In fact, it can be expressed in a cartoon. [Picture 2] Sometimes I think, if I don't buy books, maybe I can "go upstairs". But I think it's worth it.

Many people ask if I have read all the books in the bookcase. I usually read most of the answers. There will always be a portion that is bought and not read. Suddenly I remembered that I bought a copy of "Baking with Kafka" in Qingmingtang, which is a comic related to books. There is also an article about bookcases [Picture 3]. I don't know if it's the same as your bookcase? Be careful when buying books in recent years, because space is really limited. So, when a bookstore says "contract your bookcase", I sincerely say "Thanks but no thanks".

I am very envious of others having a large floor-to-ceiling bookcase against the wall, because the backside expresses that the interior of the homeowner is very "expected". Of course, this is not the case. One day, I read Matsuura Yataro's "If life is a journey", there is such a situation:

"I filled the four-meter-high and nine-meter-wide bookcase in his house with old books. From the complete works of Shakespeare in leather, to review books of old movies, history books, and books on Japanese culture. When the empty bookcase and altar were full, he looked at it and said happily, "I can finally entertain guests." Listen, my mood is very complicated. There are a bunch of books I don't read at home, what's so exciting... …” (p. 16)

Really, what's the joy in that? In order to do so, I have to read the books I bought.

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Extended information:

"If Life Was a Journey" -
https://shop.hkbookera.com/products/9789887572503

Baking with Kafka -
https://www.amazon.com/Baking-Kafka-Tom-Gauld/dp/1770462961