I don’t buy a lot of books for myself. I tend to take advantage of the free library that my town has, as well as the fact that getting loans from other libraries is always possible. In addition to that, they have e-books that I can download to my e-reader from the convenience of my own home.
However, when I was looking for a book to give my Dad as part of his Father’s day present, I came across a book I have wanted to own for some time. It was a hardcover edition of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. I have read the book multiple times and even read the fantastic companion book Everybody Behaves Badly by Lesley Blume. I enjoy the story and even Hemingway’s economy with words.
I purchased the book along with a collection of the works of Rene Magritte. Just finding them at a reasonable price could be considered Today’s perfect Moment. Making a quick decision to purchase them (I almost wrote a quick and decisive decision) was also pretty good. Though in the end, adding them to my collection permanently is what I am settling on.
It was in the discount bin and seems to have been produced specifically for the bookstore. I guess the book is in the public domain and anyone can put out an edition. This edition features good paper, a decent font, an integral bookmark, but very little else. There isn’t even any biographical information or author’s photo. Granted I don’t really need these things, but I would like a bit more.
One of my favourite book editions is the Oxford World Classics edition of the Three Musketeers. The notes and other contextual information are fantastic and enlightening. I wish this edition were more like that. If I could have an edition like that in hardcover, that would be awesome.
I am not unhappy with my edition, but it isn’t quite what I was expecting. I may have to search for something else. A fantastic edition of this book must exist.
Is there a book, or book edition you really want? What’s stopping you from getting it? Also, if you know of the best edition of this book, please share it with me.
My dad collects books, most are just paperbacks, nothing fancy. But my Mom bought him a set of nice old Agatha Christie books from the flea mkt. I like looking for old first editions of anything for a good price!
My mother worked at a library, I was always taking out, or requesting her to, The Secret Garden; it was most likely my imagination, yet I can still recall the faint scent of roses wafting gently from the frontispiece depicting entwined pink roses that fronted a garden. When the book was finally discarded I ended up with it – too old to read yet so happy – sadly it seems to have disappeared from my collection. I would snap up a copy if the scent rose from the pages.