UMBERTO ECO: WHY YOUR UNREAD BOOKS DEFINE YOU
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- čas přidán 23. 10. 2022
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Hello Hello there!
Let's talk about Tsundoku - a beautiful Japanese word which translates as:
'the art of buying more books than you can read'
Never thought that there is a word in Japanese that describes myself so precisely :D
This word has no negative connotation in Japan, which is a relief. Having piles of unread books in Japan doesn't seem to be a problem.
I've recently discovered Umberto Eco's concept of Anti-library, which says that your unread books are even more important than the read ones.
I hope you will enjoy this video and let me know what you think!
Hello fellow 'Tsundoku-s' :)
You can follow me on Instagram for more frequent book recs! :)
📸 instagram.com/armenikus/
Hope to see you there ❤
I can perfectly change the title to "why you unwatched videos define you?" Because of the amount of videos I have on watch later (including this one, which is kind of ironic)
I just love having books. Filled shelves, on the floor stacked to the ceiling, on my nightstand, stuffed in any available nook in the room.
Always having an unread book at hand is also very pleasing.
Even if i never read them all, being surrounded by books is very aesthetically satisfying to me.
You've to read this book. It's called The Bookseller's Tale -> amzn.to/3rgTUln
I had a friend who looked at my large book collection and got exasperated and angry with me. He asked what was the use of buying books if you hadn’t read them. I had read many of them, but I was still working through the collection. And is most people who collect books now, you never get to the end.
I went on to learn that he hardly read it all. Just looking at my collection put a chip on his shoulder.
I recently visited my paternal cousins. They also have large book collections. It could be cultural, but I suspect there’s a certain genetic proclivity towards collecting books. Something genetic. The hoarding of words. The hoarding of knowledge and adventure.
I definitly find myself in the Tsundoku character. It's such a joy to buy beautiful books in small and cosy librairies... my only problem is the lack of space in my apartment!
Haha same for me. I've recently put my house on the market mainly because I need a bigger space for all the books 😀
Occasionally I will make myself not buy another book until I've completed at least _two_ of my unread books.
But there's always reference books, art books, beautiful special editions (Folio Society) which I can purchase to increase my collection
without guilt about them not being read from start to end. Such books were not bought with an intention to read that way.
To me there's something wonderfully homely about being surrounded by entire walls of shelves teeming full of an eclectic mix of books.
I love books. My mum did too. When she died, I kept quite a few of hers. Most of them. But I still haven't read them.
Most of my collection is fiction. I enjoy hearing about people with thousands of books in their collection, it makes me feel better about only having 4 bookcases full.
I only have about a dozen or so red books 📕 - all the rest are un-red... 📚
You said, "You cannot be an intellectually active person without realization of how ignorant you are." It sounds like Socratic wisdom, and reminds me of his "Awareness of ignorance is the beginning of wisdom" statement. Which then reminds me a bit of a theory in one of my favorite subjects (psychology): The Dunning-Kruger effect. Fascinating stuff, when you take the time to really think about it. I believe the world would be a far, FAR better place if that statement resonated with more people.
(As a VERY creepy side note, I went down a Reddit rabbit hole about commonplace books. One of the posts asked what others' favorite quote in their current book was. One person said theirs was "No piece of information is superior to any other. Power lies in having them all on file and then finding the connections. There are always connections; you have only to want to find them," said by Umberto Eco in 'Foucault's Pendulum.' That resonated with me, so I decided that quote would be going on the first page of my new book. I looked up the book, and it sounded interesting, so I requested it from my library. Fast forward to today, when I was looking on CZcams for commonplace videos. This led me to your video on them. I found it interesting, so watched a couple more. I was increasingly impressed with the quality of not only the content, but the cinematography. It's like watching a brillant movie! Then I watched this one, and who do you mention but UMBERTO ECO 😱 Well, if that wasn't a sign to subscribe to your channel, I don't know what is! And yes, I will be putting your quote and the resulting train of thought tumble in my CP book 😃)
Thanks for making great videos. I can't wait to explore your channel!
What a wonderful comment! I do believe that there are no coincidences in life. Coincidences happen when your life begins to rhyme with the universe :) Sounds esoteric, but well.. hey! :) Thank you so much for your lovely comment. I am going to save it in my notebook.
Like my gf and I always say... The more you know, the more you don't know.
so interesting thank you for making this! you earned a new sub
Very nice episode! Keep up the great work. I subscribed right away.
oh i found my fave video on CZcams! Now back to reading and preparing our book club in Second Life later today! Stop by sometime :)
Please send me a link!
@@VashikArmenikus google Second Life Book Club and you shall find. Big show today and Charles Yu coming SATURDAY :)
I was a book addict. I would forget I'd read a book, and borrow it again from the library. Maybe 3/4 through, I'd realise it seemed familiar. Sometimes I'd read the whole thing, and go to initial the slip in the back, only to discover I was the last person who read it. I am ashamed to admit that the internet has cured my addiction. Well, not completely, I still occasionally buy books, and sometimes I even read them!
The most comforting thing I've watched on youtube in a long time. Thank you.
What a wonderful comment! Thank you so much for motivating me to record more !
Thank you so much for this ‘rest assured’ video! I always knew that my unread books had meaning, but you put memorable words to this feeling.
Ive found a solution to my tsundoku. Opened a small used bookstore. All of the books are mine to freely give or take. If i sell one, i generally don't even recall having it (because i have so many). If I want to read something but i dont think ill get to it soon, off to the store it goes. My home isnt piled high with books, and i make a good amount per month.
I love this video!
Thank you Donna! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Great video as always!
Thank you so much ❤️ Hope you're doing well :)
@@VashikArmenikus thak you for asking; yes, all is well :) I had a busy December, but I guess we all had.
I am so glad to find your chanel with more subscribers. Congratulations! May the algorithm gods of CZcams be in your favor from now on :) Quality of your content is impeccable. I am sure there is a lot of people that are just waiting to discover you and will be thrilled when they do. You talk about difficult ideas with such ease and simplicity. Your chanel is definitely my favourite 2022 CZcams discovery ❤️
Greetings from Poland!
I am so enlightened by finding yours account and this interesting & calming video☀️✨. You do a pretty good job for us out here. The communations skill, the wise words, the cinematography - keep it together and go higher with it my friend! 🧡🌠
Thank you so much for your warm and kind words! It's so inspiring to hear!
The most inspiring thing for a creator like myself is to hear words like yours :) Often being a creator involves making things and not being certain if anyone likes it or sees it ❤️
Let me know if there are any questions / topics / books your would like me to explore on this channel! :)
thank you for this validating video and for introducing me to the word, tsundoku. i hope i''m absorbing the knowledge osmotically as i'll need a few more lifetimes to read what i have even after giving away many -
We (tsundokus) are all in the same boat! So, welcome to the club!
Yep, perhaps books are not the worse thing to spend money on, even if it has some signs of addiction. "Tsundoky", great, thank you for the word and this video!:)
Thank you Eugene! It's nice to meet a fellow Tsundoku!
Fantastic video young man👌🏼
Thank you 😊
Just love Mr Eco, and I just can agree more about the "reading addiction", and clearly happy to have this one.
I've piled (for now…) 700/800 books to read, which I've decided to get... SO to read.
Even the oldest one (at half of the 18th century), this is not a matter (not only ?) of collection, because I do love to imagine that persons had given their mind, soul, sweat to provide to us their knowledge, their dreams, their thoughts, who they are.
This is a way to share your individuality, one of the best, with music.
Hi Vashik. Keep these videos of you going into your favourite bookshop. Love these themes!! Very original. Andrew. Love from Ireland 🇮🇪
Thank you Andrew will keep it up! Hope you're doing well :)
Ha Ha! I'm plodding through the Master and His Emissary, too! Next few years will be spent on savoring the Matter with Things. It is great to have books on the horizon...like countries you hope to visit
That's so true. I started with the Matter with Things, but he refers a lot to his 'The Master and His Emissary' so I switched to that one. It's dense, but eye-opening enough to persevere.
Your way of crafting the video is undoubtedly marvellous ❤my brother
Thank you for your kind words!
You sir, are criminally undersubscribed! I think I'm falling in love with books again.
Let the algorithm Gods hear your words! Thank you so much and so glad that you're falling in love with reading again!
Actually Eco's quote is the opposite. He said, '"No, these are the ones I have to read by the end of the month. I keep the others in my office."
Ecco Eco!
A perfekt diagnosis ✨🙏🏻✨
I feel attacked 😂
I feel overwhelmed by too many books. It takes too much time and money to keep them, not to mention dusting them. I try not to buy more books that I can read. After reading them, I give them away.
Not to mention the fact that many books lose their appeal after a few years, because they are no longer up-to-date. Only very few books are worth keeping, mainly classics.
i will never understand buying books indiscriminately. to me, great books are like friends or other-worlds. it can't just be an indiscriminate whim. if anything, it's the opposite for me. i could spend hours looking for specific books or writers or hidden gems. the collection has to be actually a curated one.
Absolutely agree Maggy!
This wonderful video speaks to me! I have over 3200 books in my house and the shelves are double-stacked, piled on top of each other...and it makes me happy. I'm pretty sure I could find any one of them, though. I have a system. Some could take a few minutes to locate...However, there are books I own that I've forgotten I've obtained, which does bother me sometimes.
Eco's thing: naive types who see his library and ask "have you read all these?" vs. the ones who know you have books for research, when that arrives: that seems like a key point to me. I do intend to read all my books, but I know time is limited before my death and there are many I won't get to. I do love grabbing one off the shelf and finding it transports me to another time. I'm not wealthy. Not even close! But I do feel "rich" with my books. To quote Dr. Johnson out of context, I'm a harmless drudge.
There are two types of wealth. There's material wealth and spiritual. In our day everyone focuses on the former. But you can be wealthy in terms of money and shallow spiritually. So I do agree with you! Although I a nowhere rich, I feel wealthy when I am surrounded by my books.
Let’s embrace it! :-)
Definitely!
I love like looking at my pile of unread books. They await my consumption.
Same here :)
I've had Tsundoku for the past 12 years.
Hello kindred spirit :)
Cool channel. I love Debussy
Debussy ❤️
Bugoga Tsundoku Banzai! 🫶🏻
❤❤❤❤
❤️📚
❤
Hi Vashik, where did you get your book display on your shelf, the one where it is slanted? I would like to display my large volume books.
Hello! :) Ahm, don't judge me, but it comes from IKEA haha :) I was trying to find the name of it for you but couldn't :( I'm sure they're still selling them :)
@@VashikArmenikus thanks for your response and love the channel!
“The moderate overwhelm of a great bookshop is better than the infinite overwhelm of the Internet.” Seems Borgesian but true?
Subtle, invisible influences of my favourite Borges!
I recently started to read an "unread" book to discover if I read it a year ago it would have served as relevant historical background for a paper it was not obvious, and I was so busy w/ f/t graduate school I did not look at my own books carefully enough. Spelling correction: Th word you meant is "rows" not "raws." The difference in meaning is vastly different.
Thanks Karen! :)
Out of curiosity, how many books do you have in your collection?
Hello ☺️ I counted two years ago when I was organising my library and it was about 1050-+. I have bought many over those years so I think it’s ranging between 1150 to 1200:) kinda rough estimate
Easier with eBooks right now I guess
Well, I am a bit old school :) I like keeping paper journals and read paper books :) Tried doing it digitally but didn't get into it :)
I had no idea this was a thing. I’ve only bought books that I wanted to read and subsequently read them! I usually purchase with purpose.
I don’t think reading are an intellectual pursuit. I would go as far to say that if it is, you are doing it wrong.
Well, that's a bold (on the edge of being rude) statement. Could you maybe elaborate on why you think so?
Umberto Eco had 30,000 books at his apartment in Milan
AND 20,000 books at his vacation home in Urbino.
According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Eco