This journal is dedicated to a group of people that, I think, may have some things to process.
The most visceral emotion I have seen thus far in the bookshop comes from a small minority of people’s hatred, pure hatred, directed towards hardback books.
The humble hardback is hated by some, and I don’t know why.
One customer asked for a recently released, much acclaimed title. I found it on the main table in the centre of Clemo Books, surrounded by its sewn spine, jacket clad friends, looking glorious face up and stacked high.
I passed it to the customer in question and was greeted with a gasp. They wildly tossed and turned the book in their hands looking for the price. I directed them to the inside cover, and we found the £16.99 price tag. Another gasp. “I think hardbacks are such a waste,” they declared.
They requested another book. Also, a hardback.
Unsurprisingly they left the bookshop empty handed. Other customers whirled around to face me having witnessed the dramatic interaction that left them bemused and I explained to them that a person declaring their hatred of hardback books happens at least twice a week.
I grew up with one of these people, my mother, hates hardbacks. She’s made it known more than once.
I understand that they’re more expensive and slightly cumbersome, but I don’t think it warrants the impassioned declarations.
For many people the price is off putting, which I completely understand as a bookseller/working class person living under a god-knows-how-long tory government. But the hardback’s heft is a promise from publishers to authors that they’re taking their work seriously, they believe in their art enough to spend more money on the production costs. Although this reflects on the reader’s pockets, it’s akin to the cinema verses TV debate. The hardback sales also help to fund the rest of the book’s success when the paperback production rolls around.
Perhaps it is the weight of them. I’m always surprised to see their paperback counterpart released 6 months or so later looking so miniature compared to its board bound predecessor. The stiff covers that help hold the pages in place, personally, helps stop me from destroying the book completely like I do with a much-loved paperback, but I understand how this makes them difficult to relax with. Hardbacks also command more space in the bookshops, so shoppers are more likely to be drawn in and possibly discover a new author. They’re made to last and can be passed down from generation to generation.
But to those hardback haters, I don’t know how you can wait. A beloved author releases a book in hardback, and you are prepared to wait upwards of 6 months and have a paperback book that although lovely is never quite as good looking as it’s hardback mummy/daddy. I joke, you’re more patient than I am and that’s a good thing.
We need opinions in cultural venues like bookshops. They keep conversations flowing and people unique. I just think maybe this passion could be directed towards campaigning for something that will make a difference in a world that needs voices like yours (tehe) I jest again…
June saw the release date of many hardbacks and we’ve got lots of gorgeous ones in stock. Maybe if you’re a hardback hater you could try some immersion therapy with your summer read this season. Unless you’re going on holiday and need to pack light, then I totally get it. Pack that paperback. Heck, dig that e-reader out!
Comments