Flashman vs. The Masses

I had just read recently that last winter in England, used bookstores were selling five times as many paperbacks as they had at any point. They were delighted of course, used bookstores are one of the toughest enterprises you can get into. Most fail, all struggle. But new life was breathed into these wonderful markets of loved and sold literature. You can just see the smile on the face of some plump sixty year old shopkeeper after just having sold his collection of Flashman paperbacks to an eager twenty-something for about five pounds. 'Goodness' he'd chuckle to his customer, 'I remember reading those as a lad.' To which his patron's reply would only be a mere shrug and exit of the shop. 'Ahh. Job well done.' he'd say to himself, 'Still, not the priciest book on the shelf'. And in a few moments later the bell would ring anew bringing in more souls craving the soft paper novel.

The main reason for this upsurge in book purchase was, dare I say it, not some Harry Potteresque revitalization in people sitting down and reading. Nay, the reason for this occurrence is more than simple and just a bit interesting.

You see, England and Europe has been having one dastardly winter. By our standards we would surely scoff at such temperatures, alas; they are made of softer stuff. There were weeks on end in London which would dip below twenty degrees. Many of the houses and 'flats' as they splendidly call them, are not very well heated. Yes, you probably see where I'm headed here. It would appear that the fine folks of jolly old England- those Kraut-defeating, Nazi-squashing, Bosh-bashing citizens- have been burning books en masse. Now now, they're not doing it for ideological reasons, that would be outrageous. Streuth, the people of the United Kingdom are just cold. Literally.

Where's the problem with this? Is there a problem? I know of many that would be aghast if they knew this was happening! 'Books are sacred!' they would retort, 'the written word will be all we have once everything has fallen away!' Well yes, paper does last a long time. But it also burns pretty good. Especially the earlier works of Ray Bradbury. There are many great books in the world. The greatest works of art are arguably in written form, and even some of them can be slipped into the pocket of your jeans. However, there is also a great deal of books that really don't need to exist. Yes, it sounds harsh, every once in a while somebody will read something from the past that has been passed, and discover something magnificent. No doubt it happens. But for every one of those is a million books that would be better served as mulch. We just publish too many books.

The great thing about the fastened sheet is their timelessness and the fact they are a physical object. Film fades, music deafens to the ages, paint cracks and fissures. Books are here and real and you can hold them in your hand whenever you want to. And should you be cold and you are out of wood, a book really can be your best friend. For a couple of minutes.