Sir, – Kevin Power need not worry, he is not in a library of one when it comes to buying, storing and cataloguing books ("Hi. My name is Kevin and I can't stop buying books", Life, April 27th).
There are no sullied pages in his love of the physical book, all the components that contribute to the finished product – dust jacket, paper, typography, text design, printing, binding, publishing.
I have often been overcome by the aesthetics of the library, the sensory and serendipitous stroll of sight, touch and smell; to wander through the aisles inhaling the musty odour of leather, cloth, skin, the dried pages;the soothing presence of the shelved books, the knowledge that you are in the company of genius.And that is before you even think of the contents within.
I too have gathered thousands of books from the different countries I’ve lived in. Curated by author and genre but also by the time and location they were purchased. They act as my Praetorian Guard, guardians of the memories and moments in a life. Yes, books may have cultural capital, but they also have personal currency. And as Cicero said: “A room without a book is like a body without a soul.”
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Problem, Kevin? No problem. See you in Hodges Figgis or Easons, or better still in Chapters, real soon. – Yours, etc,
TOM McGRATH,
Wicklow.