Six more months of the bookshop, and then ...

Mon 1 Jul 2013, 19:44 (last edited on Tue 2 Jul 2013, 14:19)

Jon, it saddens me to read your post. There's more than an air to it of a passing age, and that's always tinged with sadness. I'll also be sorry, as will much of the town, to see your shop disappear. It's good to see that you have a realistic understanding of the circumstances though, and that you'll step out into a new life in a positive frame of mind. As for the books, that's a tough one. There's no substitute for the tactile experience of holding one in your hands and hearing the paper as you slowly leaf through it. The smell; the way paper sends back the light so softly; the analogue nature of advancing through the book, the left side thickening while the right gets gradually thinner; the moment when you return to the blurb on the back for the second time, the whole volume subtly worn instead of pristine; the rows of spines looking out at you from your shelves, offering company always on your terms; the thrill of turning to a forgotten bookmark and finding echoes from your own past. And yet I already do my reading by the byte. I enjoy the efficiency of the device that has the conveniences both of impermanence and permanence. I have my library in my pocket. I can mark my volumes without leaving a mark, and search for a half-remembered phrase without recourse to my own unreliable memory. I can make the letters bigger when I've misplaced my glasses (usually on top of my head), and explore the classics for free. The volumes on my shelves are like the old friends I no longer write to, but still think of fondly. So I think you're right; bookshops will become a curiosity and a haunt of the purist, like those record shops that still stock vinyl. And that means it's more important than ever to treasure and share the ideas we take from books, when there are no longer shops to pass them on, just readers.

Thu 27 Jun 2013, 21:01

Jon, thanks for sharing this.

One of my pipe-dreams has been to retire to Charlbury (I don't live (t)here yet) and to offer to buy your business off you ... but I find it hard to imagine (a) how I would make it pay realistically, and (b) how running a shop is compatible with having more time for myself and my family. Your post was very informative.

However, I am interested in books, and I sell on my own account to the tune of few thousand a year, and I also run a small publishing company ... all as a hobby while having a proper day job.

I'll follow this thread with great interest, and perhaps contact you for a chat.

Thu 27 Jun 2013, 18:20

I realise that I have been sharing my thoughts on the future of the bookshop with friends recently, and as a result I'll soon be guilty of starting my own rumours.

So here is the truth, unvarnished by rumour!

Not long ago, a good day's takings here were between £150…

Long post - click to read full text