Cut pages

[rebeccmeister]

The main thing I remember from reading The Great Gatsby in high school was about "cut pages." If a person bought a book during that period, often the pages would still be attached together at the top, due to the printing methods that were used. So you could tell whether the book had been read if it had cut pages.

This is related to a quotation by John Waters, about making books cool again.

Back to working on Godel, Escher, Bach. Grimly.

Comments

Godel, Escher, Bach

[(Anonymous)]

I bought a copy of this book many years ago on the basis of a review that praised its investigation into the phenomenon of self-similarity. I started reading it, but when proceeding became grim, I moved on to other things. It's still sitting on the bookshelf, and occasionally the thought occurs to me that maybe, someday I will read it. But I probably won't. Maybe I'll put it into one of those little, free library boxes that seem to be sprouting up everywhere.

I have many other partially read books on my bookshelves. I learned some time ago that if a book is not interesting enough to keep me engaged to the very end, that's o.k.

Love,
Dad

Re: Godel, Escher, Bach

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

I guess I tend to manage my book collection such that the only books I keep are either ones I'm intending to read at some point and haven't started, or ones that I've read and deeply appreciate for one reason or another.

Funny to hear that you've had a similar experience with the book, as also reported by a couple of the other LJ folks who have attempted it.

I know I'm on the stubborn end of the spectrum with some of these books, but I have found that, more than once, my persistence has paid off, and so I continue...