Comments on: Why I love clogged Arab toilets better than Amazon Kindles

By: Gail Bentzinger

Gail Bentzinger — Sat, 14 May 2011 05:46:45 +0000

Whenever I’m in the UK, I come back with 10 or so books that would have been nearly impossible to obtain here. In fact, last time my one checked bag weighed in exactly at 50 pounds. They asked me if I was carrying bricks. No. Books from Hatchard’s.

By: Matt Beynon Rees

Matt Beynon Rees — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:33:20 +0000

Oh, and Pam, wherever you keep your copy of my books, I’m just happy that you have it!

By: Matt Beynon Rees

Matt Beynon Rees — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:32:46 +0000

There are times when we all want a Japanese toilet, Pam Ah, but the inclusion of the Droid in the Kindle/book mix is something I’ve yet to face. Does that mean you read on your cellphone?

By: Pam

Pam — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:52:01 +0000

When the Kindle first came out, I bought one and used it quite a bit. But I found that I did miss real books and so now I seem to go back and forth between the Kindle and real books. I am in a real book stage now (although I do have to say that I have your last book on my Kindle). Now that I can synchronize my Kindle with my Droid, I never have to be without reading material.

Re: Palestinian toilets: In 1968, I spent a year in Thailand and there were many of those hole in the ground toilets. I did get somewhat used to them (I was much more agile in those days) but since I had numerous attacks of gastroenteritis, the holes in the ground lost their charm…since we are being wonderfully graphic here, I will say that the combination of toilets in the ground and painful diarrhea does indeed make me wish for a Japanese version.

By: Matt Beynon Rees

Matt Beynon Rees — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 13:50:16 +0000

You’re right that the encyclopedic scope of online shopping for books is appealing, Gail. I note that bookdespository.co.uk is now sending books abroad without charging for shipping, which is an improvement on amazon. As for Isandhlwana, it has a special place for me, as we often used to drive up to Brecon where the unfortunate (at least that day) South Wales Borderers were based.

By: Gail

Gail — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:29:54 +0000

Maybe it’s a guy thing, this loving Arab toilets. Your description reminds me too much of the outhouses at Girl Scout camp in the late 50′s. They had seats though, that opened onto the noxious pit and one always had to look for the enormous spiders that lived on the concrete tubes that were attached to the underside of the seat. Cute boys came around once a week and threw lime down on to the pit to cut the smell, I guess. In my travels through Egypt, I never ran across a squat toilet so I must’ve stayed at more upperclass places; they charged at least $5 per night. But you’re absolutely right about the smells of a good bazaar. To be perfectly honest, I’d rather wander through a crowded bazaar anytime, than go to New York City. I can honestly say I’ve wandered the world alone in my youth, alone, except maybe for the temporary traveling companion, but I’m terrified of New York. As for the Kindle, It would have it’s place in my life for books I don’t want to keep. I keep your books and those of Daniel Silva. Books on the Indian Mutiny of 1857, which is my special interest. Books on the Boer War and Isandhluana. I do find odd books on Amazon and Alibris, most used and I love to feel them and wonder who owned them before me.

By: Matt Beynon Rees

Matt Beynon Rees — Tue, 04 May 2010 12:10:18 +0000

It’s true, Miriam. I picked up an old copy of a biography of General Allenby in Hay-on-Wye a decade ago with the inscription of the original owner — who had been serving with the British army in India at the time. Fascinating stories that travel with books are gone as soon as the book goes digital. …As for the acquired taste, I agree that it may be a particular quirk of mine to favor these particular bathrooms…

By: miriam

miriam — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 02:24:50 +0000

Matt: Don’t forget the joy of finding a book nobody else has heard of in the last 20 years and enjoying it thoroughly.

Some of these books have inscriptions and it’s like reading old postcards. You get a little taste of somebody else’s life–just a subtle hint, but enjoyable nevertheless.

I love libraries, I love bookstores, old and new, and book sales, and the shelf at the Good Will store or the Salvation Army where books are an afterthought. Each of these represents a potential adventure.

However, I don’t think I’d like Arab toilets. That seems to be an acquired taste.

By: Matt Beynon Rees

Matt Beynon Rees — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 07:05:10 +0000

You’ve pointed out an additional element, Nicole: the finding of the book. Finding a book on amazon just isn’t the same.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:36:58 +0000

Somehow, I thought this post was going to veer into territory dangerously close to this, but it (obviously) didn’t.

I also think the digital experience isn’t nearly as satisfying as spending hours in a bookstore, finding a book you may never have otherwise picked up, or having a book call to you from twenty feet away in the library (which accounts for the large stacks of books by my bed). (The Kindle would also elminate my tendency to buy extra copies of books I love, just in case something happens to the first copy…)

I have to confess that I get nostalgic for the cute card catalog drawers, but not the annoyance of actually having to USE them.