THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501190160
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: CoastWise
SOURCE: Ford Reid
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Now and then, I am overcome with a desperate need to get organized.
Often, this passes in a matter of hours, if not minutes. I can fill that need by washing the pile of dishes in the sink or lining up my shoes at the back of the closet.
But sometimes the need goes so much deeper than that. I have to do something really big, something that shows a grand commitment to organization.
This is not easy. Although I constantly and valiantly fight the impulse to save things, I remain, by nature, a pack rat. I want to throw things away but I find that difficult.
So I take the easy way out and organize my books, knowing that I will never throw any of them away. I have a friend who reads constantly but refuses to keep books. He reads them, then out they go.
I can't do that.
Not that I have all that many books. Just enough to clutter up almost every room in the house, sitting unopened and gathering dust.
I once tried to organize my books by category. Fishing books on this shelf, books about the Outer Banks on that shelf, novels here, history there and so forth.
Now I have come up with a new system which divides everything into seven categories, including:
Books that I have never read and never will. Any honest person will admit to having a few of these. There are so many things that you ought to read but know deep down inside that you never, ever will. These might include a few volumes that you bought in college to carry around campus to impress your friends.
Books that I haven't read but really intend to read. This is a slightly less difficult category. If, for instance, Einstein's explanation of relativity is in the first group, then Bertrand Russell's explanation of Einstein's explanation is in this one. Often, this class of books includes gifts from people who think you are smarter than you really are.
Books that I might actually read. This frequently includes books that are bought when you find yourself in a huge book store with a little time on your hands and a few extra bucks in your pocket. That confluence of events never fails to fuel intellectual ambition.
Books that I've read and will never read again. These are the books that really should be donated to the Goodwill. Included is virtually anything that has been on a best seller list in the past 20 years, especially if it is in paperback.
Books that I have read and will never read again but can't bear to part with. Books can be like people. There is no logical reason to hold on to some of them, but you do.
Books that I've read and probably will read again. As you grow older, your memory begins to fail and rereading an old favorite is a new experience.
Absolutely essential books. This is a very personal decision. One friend of mine would sooner do without food than be without his copy of ``Catch 22.'' Anyone who reads finds himself reaching again and again for certain books.
Now that I've come up with this remarkable system, all I have to do is get organized. by CNB