Jon and His Books

Jon surrounded himself with books. He considered himself both a collector of books and a true connoisseur of the written word. Ironically, almost all of Jon’s collection of books went unread. When someone pointed out this fact, it didn’t really faze Jon. He figured that the search was as important as the books. And he could burn a weekend scouring used bookstores purchasing books he had no intention of ever cracking. He plundered yard sales and library clearance sales for extra copies of The Scarlet Letter, which he’d swear he had read at some point in his young life, but a blank ten-foot stare was his only response if you asked him anything about Hester Prynne.

Jon never bought comics. It’s not because he looked down on pulp fiction—he would proudly brag about his extensive collection of graphic novels and noir fiction—but Jon just didn’t like that there were no bindings to admire on the side of a comic when filed on his shelves. Comics, like magazines, had no girth; thus, these forms didn’t have the eye stopping power of Moby Dick or a Grisham novel.


When Jon was asked the simple question, “why?” which happened often because of his innate desire to show off the book-crammed walls of his apartment, he would gladly tell the inquisitor that there was something inherently comforting about a wall of books. If he was feeling poetic, he might refer to the shelves of books as a shield of knowledge. He would argue the importance of the printed word and, from memory, recite a diatribe against the move to a digital format as if the questioner were trying to sell him a Kindle. In Jon’s mind, electronic books were a literary sin. It also happens that an e-book may be the only form of literature that has less shelf presence than a tri fold pamphlet.

After spending some time with Jon, I’ve come to the conclusion that’s the lie he liked to tell himself. We all have our defense mechanisms, right? Really, it’s just a lie that required no self-scrutiny. And who else is really going to try and pry into the obtuse mind of a book hoarder? Most people create these sorts of self-serving fabrications that don’t hold up to close inspection, but are so small no one bothers with cross-examination.

I have my own theory. It’s still in infancy, but we’re talking now so…why not? I think Jon liked the idea behind the ideas. That sounds a little smarter than it actually is, but it’s the best answer I've come up with. Just think about it: Jon surrounded himself with books. He literally hoarded them for the sake of having them. He crammed them on his custom wall shelves, and he just admired them. Or he admired the idea that they must contain knowledge. He assumed the inherent value contained within. The books were a shield, if I’m allowed to borrow his own words. They protected him from whatever he was afraid of. 

The tragedy was that just looking at the books on the shelf was enough for Jon. He surrounded himself in a world of knowledge, but he never really learned anything. He admired without engaging. He knew the books were good, but he didn’t actually experience the magic that many of the books contained.