Book Snob Pinnacle

[Zeno]

By divine providence I reached the snob book pinnacle today just in time to post about it. I just received, today, my new Oxford Thesaurus of English (one volume) Limited Edition. It matches my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Two Volumes) set. I ordered the same limited edition number for the thesaurus as the dictionary set, so I get extra Rich Nebiolo anal nit points. The added bonus is that I have and will use these wonderful reference books.

I have easily surpass Natedogg and even John Cole in the book snob club. And there is no way Andy Fox has these volumes in his library. So I ace him also.

-Zeno: Ultimate Book Snob

P.S. - All volumes are bound in Nigerian Goatskin.

[MMMMMM]

Hrm, I'll bet my poetry library is longer than yours--and none of it that limp stuff, either, which forlorny passes for poetry amongst pseudo-highbrows.

Of course, I might be on the wrong side of this bet, as I recall you have the same Dickinson book--and perhaps the same Buson book too (The Path of Flowering Thorn?

Well, anyway, measure it and get back to me.

[Zeno]

M,

Same Dickinson book, yes. The other poety stuff was from a library book I had checked out. I had not heard of Buson until then.

I don't know if I measure up and am unwilling to unpack old boxes of books, so I'm willing to call a draw in overall 'snobbery' and concide the poetry 'measure it and get back to me' thing. I am rather limp in the poetry department anyway.


-Zeno

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

http://m-w.com

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
and concide [sic] the poetry 'measure it and get back to me' thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the high point of the thread.

scrub

[MMMMMM]

Hi Zeno:

Perhaps this will be of interest:

From the Preface to The Path of Flowering Thorn: the Life and Poetry of Yosa Buson:

"Yosa Buson is a towering figure in the history of haiku. In the minds of most Japanese his only rival is Matsuo Basho, the very "father of haiku", who almost singlehandedly elevated the 5-7-5 verse to a mature and poetic form. In Buson's own thought, Basho was less a rival to compete with than a teacher to learn from, although there is evidence Buson did worry that the influence might be too strong."

My first encounter with Buson was in high school, when I was immersed in the library, reading for pleasure, as was often my wont. Perusing the pages of Sun Buddhas, Moon Buddhas: A Zen Quest, I stumbled on the following verse:


I know not from what temple
the wind brings the voice of the bell.

-Buson

[Blarg]

Why the hell would anyone want to make a reference book a limited edition? That does seem hilariously snobby.

[Popinjay]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
and concide [sic] the poetry 'measure it and get back to me' thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the high point of the thread.

scrub

[/ QUOTE ]

That is pretty f-ing funny.

[John Cole]

Zeno,

Yes, you do surpass me. I only have the Shorter Oxford along with seven or eight others. However, I do have online access to the complete OED, thereby obviating the need for removing my glasses to read the damn small print version or resorting to a microscope.

Of course, the Nigerian Goatskin makes me jealous.

[John Cole]

Re: Limited Edition.

Think: How many people will buy the thing anyway? Hence, limited edition.

[John Cole]

M,

If you can drag your ass down to Lincoln, RI, next Tuesday, poet Edward Hirsch will be reading on campus at noontime. He's one of the best in the US, and has written a couple very good general books on poetry, including How To Read a Poem.

[Duke]

[ QUOTE ]
I have easily surpass Natedogg and even John Cole

[/ QUOTE ]

have... surpassed

Would you like a copy of Oxford's Guide to Writing?

~D

[jakethebake]

Have I found it? /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Zeno]

That's next on the list. Though I agree with Scrub that the misspelling of concede was the high point of the tread.

Everyone had a chance to be a snob in this thread, so mission accomplished, and I shot myself in the foot to boot. This should put all in a good mood and start their day out on the correct footing. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

-Zeno

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]

"Yosa Buson is a towering figure in the history of haiku.

[/ QUOTE ]
New high point in the thread?

"This is roughly the equivalent to being the greatest ballerina in all of Galveston." - Charles Emerson Winchester III

[Zeno]

[ QUOTE ]
......thereby obviating the need for removing my glasses to read the damn small print version or resorting to a microscope.


[/ QUOTE ]

This can be frustrating. In a few more years, I suppose, the dictionary and thesaurus will be useless to me except as ornamental doorstops or conversation pieces.

-Zeno

[Topflight]

Using paper dictionaries instead of the internet just so you can brag about it does sound very Bookie. Good Job!

[sfer]

True book snobbery is claiming to have read War and Peace "in the Russian." Like Condi Rice did in a New Yorker profile a couple of years ago.

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
Using paper dictionaries instead of the internet just so you can brag about it does sound very Bookie. Good Job!

[/ QUOTE ]

You've obviously never gotten a chance to flip through the OED (although flipping through Zeno's two volume OED wouldn't be that much fun without a good magnifying glass). Internet dictionaries are fine for looking up specific words, but they're no fun to browse. Looking up a word in the OED often turns into an adventure of its own.

Open stacks libraries, paper card catalogs, and print dictionaries are worth preserving.

scrub

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
True book snobbery is claiming to have read War and Peace "in the Russian." Like Condi Rice did in a New Yorker profile a couple of years ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

That whole profile was pretty strange. I thought the best line was when she dismissed some supposed bigot by saying "I am better at your culture than you are." I don't remember the line or context exactly, but it stuck with me as a weird way to look at music and literature.

scrub

[edtost]

open stacks are awesome. especially in the wierd, dusty, pseudo-lit areas where no one goes.

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
open stacks are awesome. especially in the wierd, dusty, pseudo-lit areas where no one goes.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I didn't know you better, I might think this meant you had gotten laid.../images/graemlins/smile.gif

scrub

[John Cole]

"I took Evelyn Woods' speedreading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It was about Russia."

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
By divine providence I reached the snob book pinnacle today just in time to post about it. I just received, today, my new Oxford Thesaurus of English (one volume) Limited Edition. It matches my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Two Volumes) set. I ordered the same limited edition number for the thesaurus as the dictionary set, so I get extra Rich Nebiolo anal nit points. The added bonus is that I have and will use these wonderful reference books.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's "Rick", not "Rich" /images/graemlins/smirk.gif. Found this post trying to see what John Cole was up to lately. My most impressive anal nit book is Judith Martin aka Miss Manners' "Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior". Not too sure it gets me any book snob points though /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]
I have easily surpass Natedogg and even John Cole in the book snob club. And there is no way Andy Fox has these volumes in his library. So I ace him also.

[/ QUOTE ]

When John Cole lived downstairs from me in the dorm at URI his entire desk was covered with dirty laundry and his bed was covered with books.

Last year when I visited his new condo his books were piled up in a massive heap on the kitchen table. I didn't check to see if dinner was on his bed though /images/graemlins/grin.gif.

~ Rick

[thatpfunk]

I think I'm in the club. Signed first printings (and personal notes) by James Tate and Lee Young Li /images/graemlins/grin.gif

I love being a literary snob.