Books

I love books. I collect books like a hamster collects its food and store them wherever there is a space. I don't often buy new ones, much preferring to scour the shelves and bins of the charity shops or the dusty collections of the second hand book stores. I have books on most conceivable subjects and most of them are unread. I buy a book, put it on a shelf and then think - "I must read that one day" and of course then along comes another and so on. I acquire them so much faster than i can read them. I guess many books will pass from person to person never having been read at all.

Books are still my favourite source of information and entertainment The feel and smell of a good book, the weight and the texture of the pages are all a source of delight before you even get to the contents. I was brought up to treat books carefully, to always turn the pages from the top corners and to not fold the pages, and those rules are still deeply ingrained. I admire those that write them and even the crappiest of books represents an achievement as someone, somewhere deemed it fit to publish.

I am reading Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion at the moment. Now i know that Mr Dawkins has a tendency to rant, ok so do I, and he also has a tendency to put people down very severely, but he also puts together arguments that are compelling and based on real evidence. I am not saying that he is always right, but on the other hand I have come across no counter arguments that hold water at all. Most of his opponents base their arguments on the Bible, and that as a source of reliable data has been discredited for centuries. As a result it is hard to take them seriously. Dawkins'book is an entertaining read but I would no sooner base my life upon it than i would the Bible. To put all one's eggs in one basket is such a phenomenally stupid thing to do.