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The demise of the second-hand bookshop

thecritic.co.uk

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Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#81

Post by toyg »

TomSwirly wrote: post #44
mistrial9 wrote: post #21

Used bookstores are a lot like gardens -- they must be tended daily and grown in 100 ways, year after year. The city I grew up in was legendary for used bookstores, and they sit all but empty now, decades later. The 'modern' people chiming in about how to "search faster" are missing an aspect of the experience that is literal and measureable, as well as partially undefineable simply because the portion of the mind an…

Like all the things I cared about, it is going. I'm starting to lose interest in the world.

That's what growing old looks like, friend. The world we knew is going away, to be replaced by a new world for new people who care about different things.

I'm sure people who genuinely loved tending to mules and horses "lost interest" when regular folks started using trains and cars to travel. It's just how it is - humanity goes forth, as it will.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#82

Post by derbOac »

WalterBright wrote: post #58
mistrial9 wrote: post #21

Used bookstores are a lot like gardens -- they must be tended daily and grown in 100 ways, year after year. The city I grew up in was legendary for used bookstores, and they sit all but empty now, decades later. The 'modern' people chiming in about how to "search faster" are missing an aspect of the experience that is literal and measureable, as well as partially undefineable simply because the portion of the mind an…

On the other hand, I can get any book I want, including long out-of-print books. I remember years looking for a copy of Clarke's "The Deep Range". Now getting a copy is as trivial as pushing a button. And I have indulged myself, acquiring a small mountain of books :-) I also browse the books at thrift stores. It's how I've obtained a ton of strange books I never would have discovered otherwise. For example, I found a…

I think part of OPs point is that you think you can get a copy of any book. I don't mean to sound snarky at all; it's just that you know what you see online now, which is not all that is offline. You don't miss what you don't know.

My experience is of numerous out of print books that might have had small publishers in small editions. Even an unusual edition of an well known book can be unique in various valuable ways.

One year the university I was at was in danger of flooding. The priority was moving books that as far as they could determine were the only remaining copies of. You wouldn't believe the numbers of them that were moved. Many used bookstores I've visited were similar, with books selected because they were unusual.

It's hard to know what you don't know.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#83

Post by toyg »

biophysboy wrote: post #23

One thing I appreciate about second-hand bookshops and libraries is that they are not curated for me. I read a lot of non-fiction, and I find that websites like Amazon and Goodreads do give decent suggestions, but they are books about topics I already know, sharing ideas I am already familiar with, in a style I like. I can feel the customer profit gradient descent maximization breathing down my neck. Looking at you,…

I agree, but I can also see a future of smaller web-based bookshops with specialised algorithms based on more uncommon, specialized parameters. Think "books about philosophy that used to be popular in the '70s".

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#84

Post by glangdale »

I love second-hand bookshops, but you can see the death spiral. The neighborhood in which I live used to have about 7 bookshops; they are down to about 3.5 and some of the remaining ones look none too healthy.

One problem with a lot of 2nd hand bookstores is that they have stuffed their shelves with remainders - these are not a interesting stock choice as they are really just "what was selling - or more likely not selling - on mainstream shelves a few months ago". They can't compete on price moving those remainders compared to "Downtown Book Barn" places, and it crowds out genuine used stock (which will provide more surprises).

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#86

Post by WalterBright »

derbOac wrote: post #82
WalterBright wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I can get any book I want, including long out-of-print books. I remember years looking for a copy of Clarke's "The Deep Range". Now getting a copy is as trivial as pushing a button. And I have indulged myself, acquiring a small mountain of books :-) I also browse the books at thrift stores. It's how I've obtained a ton of strange books I never would have discovered otherwise. For example, I found a…

I think part of OPs point is that you think you can get a copy of any book. I don't mean to sound snarky at all; it's just that you know what you see online now, which is not all that is offline. You don't miss what you don't know. My experience is of numerous out of print books that might have had small publishers in small editions. Even an unusual edition of an well known book can be unique in various valuable ways…

> You don't miss what you don't know.

True, but I often find books by looking at cites to them in other books I have.

I found one really cool book that was simply pages and pages of schematics for vacuum tube radios and TVs. It was intended for repair shops. I ran across it as it was a prop used as part of staging a house that was for sale. I didn't buy the house :-) but I did note down the title/author, went online, and found/bought my own copy. The real estate agent showing the house thought I was very weird.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#87

Post by WalterBright »

RandomBacon wrote: post #69
WalterBright wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I can get any book I want, including long out-of-print books. I remember years looking for a copy of Clarke's "The Deep Range". Now getting a copy is as trivial as pushing a button. And I have indulged myself, acquiring a small mountain of books :-) I also browse the books at thrift stores. It's how I've obtained a ton of strange books I never would have discovered otherwise. For example, I found a…

I think Goodwill's selection depends on it's area. Their book selection at the stores where I live aren't that good. The prices of books vary between stores. But you can count on one thing: Each store will always have at least one complete set of Twilight novels.

I bet most of Goodwill's stock comes from heirs dumping the estates of their parents. It's a little sad, and I feel like I'm rescuing the books :-)

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#88

Post by Bodell »

derbOac wrote: post #82
WalterBright wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I can get any book I want, including long out-of-print books. I remember years looking for a copy of Clarke's "The Deep Range". Now getting a copy is as trivial as pushing a button. And I have indulged myself, acquiring a small mountain of books :-) I also browse the books at thrift stores. It's how I've obtained a ton of strange books I never would have discovered otherwise. For example, I found a…

I think part of OPs point is that you think you can get a copy of any book. I don't mean to sound snarky at all; it's just that you know what you see online now, which is not all that is offline. You don't miss what you don't know. My experience is of numerous out of print books that might have had small publishers in small editions. Even an unusual edition of an well known book can be unique in various valuable ways…

To add to your point, I recently tried to pick up some of my favorite movies from when I was younger, only to find that they were “out of print”. Some of these may not be lost to people searching around online because the directors are well known, but you’d likely have to search first.

Inland Empire - David Lynch / The Dreamers - Bernardo Bertolucci / Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Sam Peckinpaw / La Luna - Bernardo Bertolucci / (I’m sure there are many more, these are just a few that I’ve hunt down on eBay this year)

The last two on this list, I watched because I made friends with a video rental store manager, who loved to recommend movies for me. The store itself often did not have things he thought I should watch so he would bring them from home and lone them to me personally. I really miss that sort of thing.

I do have a good used bookstore nearby though, and the last personal recommendation I received led to me reading every George Saunders book.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#89

Post by pessimizer »

peferron wrote: post #73
xtiansimon wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too get any book I want and don’t have to store it in my house, And it’s all free—just saying. :)

If you're talking about piracy, do you only read books from dead authors? Or do you pay them via alternate channels? Or are you just fine with enjoying their content without paying them back a cent?

If we're talking about used bookstores, the author makes just as much on a pirated book as a book purchased at a used bookstore.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#90

Post by claudeganon »

pm215 wrote: post #76
m4rtink wrote: post #40

Yet the japanese second hand book/game/CD/DVD/hadware company Book Off is as successfull as ever, with stores pretty much everywhere in Japan and starting to expand overseas: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_Off Its really an amazing rxperience there - clean orderly stores with bright illumination jam packed by books at lidiculously low prices & you can find total gems there if you look for a while - like the fir…

I would be interested to know how much the Book Off model depends on the fact that manga is a huge market in Japan. Every time I've been into a Book Off, there's always been a huge manga section and it's always packed with people because (a) manga is really popular and (b) they don't shrinkwrap the manga to prevent people reading them in the shop the way a lot of places do. In a market like the UK or US where (comics…

Physical media of all kinds is much more sought after in Japan and book consumption is much higher than the US as well.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Japanese bookstores, used, specialty, and commercial. The range and quality of works is staggering. Even pre-Amazon, I’m not certain the US had such a robust market of booksellers. Could probably be only compared to somewhere like France.

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