Books

The new year's "out with the old, in with the new" phrase also holds true for the Flippist library, I'm afraid. There is only so much space, and those books that never will be read again, (or had never been read) will end up in a thrift store, orphans looking for a reader. And what new books will take their place? Mysteries? Romances? Biography? History? It's hard to say, although a look at what remains might give a clue- folk tales, mythology, sagas, art and photography. The classics of fiction, writing and essays, reference and, of course, Shakespeare. Some unfortunates who didn't make the cut include Anias Nin (erotica- not the diaries!), Biography (Sorry- Clapton, Tesla, and Marx...brothers, not Karl), and a bagful of childhood-abuse-personal histories (not the kind of thing one might reread and cherish!)

And what will remain on the "virtual shelves" of the internet, what will be swept aside in a decade, or a century, or a millennium? The great library of Alexandria was destroyed in a fire, although I suspect that cultural stability, rather than physical integrity will determine the ultimate fate of the words stored on the internet.

That and the existence of a reader- if anyone will still read in the future, much less reread and cherish. At least we'll be spared the mildew and bookworms...