Love the smell of old books? This bookseller would like you to leave

Re:Love the smell of old books? This bookseller would like y... by Andaith on Thursday July 21, 2022 @08:34PM (#32187050)

> Also one must be ruthless with those who ask, “What is the most expensive book you’ve got here?” Often it is the male of the species trying to impress the female.

That's wild to me. What a weird thing. Is this primarily an Americanism? One of the things I miss the most about the UK is the bookshops, the second-hand bookshops, the weird one-pound-per-book barns in random villages, the book festivals, the charity shops where every book is a pound.

The idea of caring about, or wanting, a _book_ because of how expensive it is, is just so genuinely alien to me that I've gotten stuck on that sentence.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Love the smell of old books? This bookseller would like y... by dionidium on Friday July 22, 2022 @12:57AM (#32188676)

"Expensive" in this case is a proxy for rare/unique/desirable/collectible/interesting, since those are the properties that would make a book expensive. It's actually a totally normal and reasonable question.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Love the smell of old books? This bookseller would like y... by alpaca128 on Friday July 22, 2022 @03:04AM (#32189347)

But wouldn't you use the word "valuable" in those cases?

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Re:Love the smell of old books? This bookseller would like y... by dionidium on Friday July 22, 2022 @01:30PM (#32194665)

Is there a difference?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Love the smell of old books? This bookseller would like y... by jeshin on Thursday July 21, 2022 @08:55PM (#32187205)

yeah, a book is a particularly strange object to do that with. It's not like it's going to have gold rims, automatic spill prevention and drop parachute, and self-reading abilities. it's probably going to be some textbook

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Love the smell of old books? This bookseller would like y... by q7xvh97o2pDhNrh on Thursday July 21, 2022 @09:30PM (#32187418)

Well, we have the technology. It's only a matter of time until someone publishes such a book.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Love the smell of old books? This bookseller would like y... by bobsmooth on Thursday July 21, 2022 @09:47PM (#32187509)

Is it any more strange than buying the most expensive car or the most expensive wine?

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Re:Love the smell of old books? This bookseller would like y... by GoodbyeMrChips on Friday July 22, 2022 @04:44AM (#32189914)

Eh?

One buys sports cars and wine for enjoyment. The idea of buying the most expensive offering for its own sake is laughable.

One doesn't order an expensive claret to drink with fish!

[ Parent | on HN ]