David Abbott on independent bookshops
(Thanks, L.)
He’s right. There is something unusually appealing about a good independent bookshop. I suppose they are like calmer versions of independent record shops, which allow you to browse for the rare, the obscure and the forgotten.
It’s hard to resist the bargains and convenience of Amazon, but this is the point at which we have to understand that all our choices have consequences.
Perhaps you have no interest in preserving shops which provide a more expensive product that you actually have to go out and buy. Perhaps you’d like Amazon to grow even bigger so that it can sell even more products (houses? Cars? Pets?).
Neither path is right or wrong, but it’s good to be aware that the choice you make will cause the rise of something and the fall of something else.
Rather than ‘independent’ book shops, I chose to live within walking distance of a good library. There is a great Carnegie library not far from me http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_library
No restriction on learning. That said, the tories have had a good go at closing some libraries down. I imagine they reckon their supporters don’t use such public services, preferring to get their literary kicks via independent bookshops? Maybe they perceive the masses only use the cornucopia of delight that is amazon, these days? Fuzzy logic at whitehall?
I like the Clerkenwell Tales on Exmouth Market. I think it works out as better value than amazon. Not the price the price is obviously cheaper on the net, but i have bought books on Amazon that have turned out to be shit, when i go there he’ll chat through the books and so if he recommends it it tends to be good, so far he’s always been right. He refused to sell me a book that had been getting good reviews because he said it was terrible.
I always try support independent retailers wherever possible. It is more expensive but I’d rather give my money a family run business than a multinational.
Yet again, David Abbott can’t do telly. Cut out the words, make him do something cool, overlay it with a folky cover of something like Big Black’s Kerosene. Then you could run it across EMEA.
In reality, it oozes charm and class that’s dying out.
i bought second hand books a couple of days ago. online. amazon marketplace. i selected the wrong address. in another country. where i dont live. i noticed the address issue two hours later and contacted the sellers. via amazon and their customer service email.
except one, my books will go on a nice little world tour and im not going to pay a penny for that. i should, but then they didnt want to change the address. probably because of legal issues or just the stupid amazon system. independent bookshops for the win!