McHuston Booksellers

Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Category: Uncategorized (Page 22 of 45)

Grit. Truly.

January 24, 2011 /

Since I sell books, I can’t really collect them (although I have amassed a fair-sized horde). That is to say, most my books have a price tag on them. I decided some time ago that I could allow myself to keep five books that would constitute my private collection, not for sale.

Then, I was showing one off, and the lady asked my price for it, then agreed to pay it. The book was well worth the money, but I wish I had kept it, since its replacement isn’t near as nice a copy.

True Grit

First Edition cover True Grit

My five favorite list had a bump-out last week, and the replacement came in this morning. After finishing True Grit by Charles Portis, I decided it needed to be in my five favorite books of all time. The First Edition copy has a nice dustjacket with its original price – a nice, solid copy. (I had two Charles Dickens tales in my 5 favorites, but I haven’t decided which one drops out of the top five…)

I don’t read westerns, as a rule, although I enjoy historical fiction. I don’t watch western movies either, in general, although I have greatly enjoyed several. I never saw John Wayne’s version of True Grit, so my reading of the story was a completely new experience, prompted by the release of the Coen Brothers’ film version of the book. I haven’t seen it either, but a number of folks came straight from the theater to the book store, wanting to read a copy. I ordered it in, and decided to take it up myself.

Charles Portis attended school and worked in NW Arkansas, and his experiences there no doubt contributed to his extensive vocabulary of regional dialectic idioms that make his quest tale so compelling. The story of the good guys chasing the bad guys has been told since the first human campfire – but rarely in the satisfying style of True Grit.

I could not put the book down. Half of it was devoured in a single setting, and it was finished off two days later. Even the results of my tendancy to compile critique items seemed petty. It is the most satisfying read I’ve had since – since I don’t know when.

It is particularly satisfying to know that a book written fairly recently (1968 is recent when compared to the stories published since Gutenberg first worked the kinks out of his printing press…) – can claim a place amongst so many classics, even if it is in my own humble estimation.

Please don’t ask a price on it just yet… I’d love to own this First Edition for a short while, anyway – at least until the taste of having devoured it so quickly diminishes just a little.

Drinking and Driving: Ooopsies.

January 5, 2011 /

When several computer programmers are gathered around a single machine working out a problem, the person at the keyboard is said to be “driving.” When I drive my laptop at the desk here, I don’t keep a glass of water nearby in case I get thirsty – no mugs of hot chocolate on cold mornings either.

I’m too worried I might do a knucklehead thing like spill it right into the electronics. I know such an accident might cause problems for my computer’s continued functioning. I also know that accidents DO happen, so any drink near the keyboard has a twist-top or cap. Only makes sense.

United Airlines

United Airlines: Good to the Last Drop

That’s why it’s a wee bit troubling to learn that airline pilots are slinging cups of coffee in the cockpit, and the inevitable accident forced an emergency landing.

From the Associated Press:

The report on Transport Canada’s website said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration reported that United’s corporate office had indicated that the pilot “had inadvertently squawked a 7500 code after spilling coffee on the aircraft’s radio equipment, which interfered with the communications equipment.”

“The flight crew had advised that they had communication problems and subsequently reported that they had some navigation problems as well and from there the pilot in the command diverted the flight onto Toronto,” Maryse Durette, a Transport Canada spokeswoman, said Wednesday.

United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson acknowledged Wednesday that one of three cockpit crew members caused the mishap by spilling a drink.

In fact, the shorted electronics caused an message to be sent that the jet’s cockpit was under assault by hijackers. Other communications were knocked out. The pilot decided he’d better divert the flight to the nearest airport. They landed safely.

I’m guessing the control panel on a United jet is just a tad more expensive than my mid-range laptop. You’d think there would be some common-sense rules applied, if not for the sake of the airliner, then maybe for the lives of the passengers, who are required to turn off their electronics – for safety.

[censored] Finn. The New Huck.

January 4, 2011 /

Pop, Pop, Snip, Snip – Po-litically correct it is… Mark Twain’s venerable American novel is scheduled to go under the knife for a little PC surgery.

According to Publishers Weekly, NewSouth Books plans to release a version of “Huck Finn” that cuts the “n” word and replaces it with “slave.” The slur “injun,” referring to Native Americans, will also be replaced.

Huck Finn

A 1st Edition copy of Twain's Huck Finn

How do you feel about that?

I’ve have my own writing tinkered with, and I didn’t always like it. On the other hand, the last time I tried to read Huck Finn, I was decidedly uncomfortable with the language. Although the author was sympathetic to the cause, the language he used was already coming under fire shortly after the book’s publication.

When R-rated movies come on television, I grin during those parts where an expletive is replaced by something G-rated, like “Oh, Drat!” I understand the reasoning for the edit, and it doesn’t ruin the viewing for me. If I want the original, I can Netflix it.

Maybe the same goes for the book. It may well be that the original intent of Mr. Twain can be retained by publisher’s substitution. Some will say that words are only words. Others will point out that the misuse – or ill-advised usage – of certain terms have felled giants.

If one child is bothered by the reading of such terms, it may serve to make the work cosmetically digestable. Better that than having a great book go unread.

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