Theme: Reading Neighbor Issue No. 107, Green Tea "Lucky Library" Reading Club
Time: October 7, 2022
Location: Yonghe Shuting
Moderator: Yang Zao
Guests: Green Tea in Weliluo Snow Village
Yang Zao: "Whether the study is a luxury or a necessity" has always been a question. Nowadays, any real estate will make a model room, and there must be a study inside.
But the study room used to be a luxury, and it is still a luxury for most people.
Let me describe to you how I use the study.
First of all, to do a project, you have to find books, regardless of whether you buy them or borrow them, pile up all the related books, they are everywhere, and finally block the computer screen.
Once the subject is used up, these books will not be used in a short time, but you dare not throw them away, you don’t know when you will use them again, you put them back on the shelf, and it will be troublesome to find them when you need them.
Distinguished guests, please tell us about the condition of your study and the joys and pains of using it.
Wei Li: There are more and more books at home, so I have to buy a house again
Wei Li: I feel the same way as brother Yang Zao. When the book is used, I hate it less.
This "less" does not mean that there is no such thing, but that it cannot be found.
My study is roughly divided into two parts, one part I call it "collection of books", and the other part is called "books for use".
The "collection of books" is my personal collection, and the "use of books" is the materials I need to write articles, but the two cannot be completely separated.
The study room is never enough. With more and more books, coupled with my wide range of interests, the theme is constantly changing in the process of writing a book. Every time I change the theme, I need to change a batch of different reference books, that is, " As for the part of using books”, the book cannot be disposed of when it is used up, because it may be used in the future, and it is not known when it will be used, so there will be more and more books.
In the past, when the study room was not so ample, my focus was how to fit more books in a limited area.
The first idea I thought of was to widen the bookshelf so that it can be placed on two levels front and back, and even three levels for small books. It was only when I was looking for a certain book by chance that I suddenly discovered that I still had this book.
This will have a very bad result, that is, often buy heavy books.
Sometimes I know I have the book, but I can't find it when I need it, so the easiest thing to do is to buy another copy.
If you repeat this process too much, you will find a pain. The more books are piled up, the more difficult it is to find books.
It was in 2003 that I first learned from the painful experience to tidy up my study, because SARS could not go anywhere, so I started to compose my own books.
At that time, I used paper to write, and after compiling the compendium, I did the classification, and after the classification, I reorganized the bookshelf and roughly grouped the books of each category together.
I left some spaces in each category.
But after finishing this, I soon realized that I was too idealistic, and these blank spaces were not practical, because you don’t buy books evenly every year, for example, five books each for history, philosophy, and literature, and fill these blank spaces evenly .
In fact, some spaces are filled quickly and cannot fit, while others have been left empty for a long time.
So I spent a lot of time adjusting them, which is a word commonly used in libraries "moving shelves".
This is a huge project, because all the books have to be turned over and moved separately.
Later, because there were more and more books at home and more and more shelves, I had to buy a house again. After buying a house, I added bookshelves and put a certain type of books in a certain room, so that at least I could roughly know which room was stored. What kind of book is it.
I separate where I keep my books from where I live.
For example, today I want to write the history of bookstores. I know where the books about the history of bookstores are probably, so I go there to find these books, find a van and pull them to my residence, so that I can turn the house where I live into a mobile The study room, when I write on a certain topic, these books are concentrated in my residence for a period of time. After I finish writing, I change to another topic, so I pull this cart away and replace it with another cart of books.
In this way, the trouble of finding books is greatly reduced.
Luo Xuecun: The age to read, but there are no books to read
Luo Xuecun: I seem to be the oldest person here today, born in the 1950s.
I had no books to read at the age when I was supposed to be studying. Later, when I was jumping in the queue in the countryside, I was caught secretly reading a borrowed book "La Traviata", and I was called to the brigade headquarters to explain the problem of reading pornographic books.
I still remember the brigade secretary saying, "If you want others to know what you do, you have to do it yourself." It seemed that I had done something very dirty and shameful.
This matter is absurd to say now, but it can be seen that in that era, not only was the stomach hungry, but the spirit was also hungry.
I really started to own my own books in the 1980s. At that time, I always liked to go to Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore. People at that time saw the hope of the country, and they were eager to read books, eager for knowledge, and wanted to learn more things to do for the country. contribute.
But I am ashamed, living to this age, the most regrettable thing is that I have read too few books.
Until I retired, I had a special desire for books. Every night, I turned off my phone early, and I liked to stay in the bedroom, leaning on the bedside, and the books I wanted to read were piled up on the bedside table. With the warm light, I picked up a book from the bedside table... I call my study "study room", and I enjoy reading time in the "study room".
Yang Zao: Everyone must have the feelings that Mr. Xuecun said. People and books need friendship. Our friendship with books is very similar to our social platform. You may have one thousand or two thousand friends on WeChat. There are some There are people who you chat with every day, some people who are always silent after you add, and some people who don’t speak except for work communication.
Your relationship with books is also different. There is a big difference between what kind of books can enter your bedroom, what kind of books can’t, and what kind of books can only be placed there as decorations.
Green tea: "I have seen a mess in my study room, but I have never seen such a mess"
Green Tea: My study is really hard to describe. Once I invited Mr. Xuecun to my house, and he was shocked when he entered. He said that I have seen such a mess, but I have never seen such a mess.
There are children in the family, and that family is not only a mess of books, but also the kind where the whole family is flying around.
The wall of books in my living room is relatively tidy. I try to make that wall relatively complete. After the new books arrive, I will stay in the living room for a while, because I want to use these new books and browse through them. I want to Select the recommended books every month, and then keep the ones I want to read, and store the other books in the study.
After Xiao Chabao was born, this wall of books had a great influence on him, because there was a sofa behind it. When he was just standing up at that time, he stood on the sofa every day to reach the books on my bookshelf. All the books that could be reached were pulled down and dropped on the sofa, so the sofa was full of books every day.
Later, for a period of time, I felt that the batch of books that he could reach had been pulled to pieces, and the quality of the books was not good, so I changed a batch of books.
It was strange that he didn't move after that, and he didn't want to move after he was not familiar with it.
A child has a desire to read. He likes to read the same book or a book he is familiar with, and he will read those books repeatedly. It is quite difficult for him to open a new book.
So at that time, this shelf of books became an important book he read frequently.
The ideal study room must be very convenient for you to use in all aspects
Green tea: Combined with today's theme, what kind of study room do we need.
In fact, what kind of study room depends on what kind of books you have read and how many books you have read. Without the accumulation and precipitation of reading, you will not be able to build the study room you imagined or ideal. It is very convenient to use in all aspects. It can not only facilitate your writing, but also facilitate your reading, and can be integrated with your family, but it is difficult to do everything.
The real ideal study room should be like Teacher Wei Li’s Zhilanzhai and his residence, it is a separate state, this is the best state, the study room is the study room, it is a place for you to write, meet friends, and read, so If it is, it will appear particularly pure, its functionality can be maximized, and it will be very clearly separated from your daily life, which will be particularly good.
Teacher Zhi’an’s study room is in the same neighborhood as his home, and he walks there every day. After eating, he walks here to meet friends, write, read, and then go back to eat later. This is the most ideal state.
The study does not need to be too big, but it must be a place for pure reading and writing.
The study rooms I painted in "Fortunately Collection" have their own characteristics. There are few people in the study paintings I drew, but there is one study room that is occupied by people, which is the study room of Mr. Ye Yonglie.
His study room was transformed from a swimming pool on the roof of his house, with the bottom of the swimming pool underneath, and the railings of the swimming pool are still there.
After his death, I found a friend in Shanghai who had interviewed him before his death and had a video, so I watched that video repeatedly, trying to find a suitable angle, so it took me a long time to draw his study.
When I was painting, the little tea bag happened to come over, and he said why don't you draw this person, this person is talking, and I said that my father can't draw.
He said I would come, and then drew it with a few strokes. I thought it was pretty good, so I kept this one. This is the only picture of a person in the study painting I drew.
Yang Zao: Whether the study room is well painted is another matter, but the value of Green Tea's "Fortunately Collection of Study Room" lies in the first is the fun inside. He is a book lover, so when he painted To be able to capture the atmosphere and fun in the study room, secondly, this book gathers the study rooms of 120 people, what the study rooms of these people look like in the past twenty years, including the books they recommend, and their confessions about the study rooms , a very interesting cultural puzzle.
Wei Li: What you are most proud of or what you are most satisfied with is when you have your first bookshelf
Yang Zao: The larger the study room, the better. What I would like to invite you to talk about next is, during such a long trip to the study room, at what time and in which state do you feel most comfortable, or the study room is the closest to your ideal? close to?
Wei Li: When collecting books, when was the most comfortable time?
This reminds me of what the ancients said about poor children becoming rich. This is the most comfortable time.
I was born in the 1960s. When I was a teenager, I wanted to have a study because I liked reading, but it was impossible at that time. At that time, my biggest dream was to have a bookshelf, but this wish could not be realized. There is no bookshelf here, so I packed books in many cardboard boxes and stuffed them under the bed. This was the so-called book collection at first.
Later, the number of books in Xinhua Bookstore gradually increased, and the most popular one was Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore. After entering, there was a row of counters in front of them. At that time, people read books across the counter, and they could not pick up books at will. I'll take a look at that book."
When I got the third book, the waiter's face was not good, and I was very nervous, so I didn't dare to say it.
There was no way, as I was still a child at that time, struggling to read the words on the spine of the book with my feet up on the counter. The hunger and thirst of those years made me have an uncontrollable possessive desire for books. After the reform and opening up, I would buy any book I saw. In fact, I don’t understand it, and I bought a lot of books without reading them. For example, I bought various editions of “Ciyuan” and “Cihai”. I couldn’t read them, but I just wanted to buy them.
I didn’t even think about what to do, owning is happiness, I want to show off after buying books, but I can’t show off when I put them under the bed, so my biggest wish is to have a bookshelf, and I can display my books. This was the biggest wish back then.
Buying furniture was not popular at that time. A classmate’s uncle knew how to make furniture, so I went around to save wood, and when I had enough, I invited him to our house. He brought a few people and made me a bookshelf.
When you ask me about the best time in the history of book collection, I think of that scene anyway, that is, I moved my books out from under the bed and inserted them on the bookshelf one by one, without categorizing them, and there were not many. It was full, but no matter who came to my house at that time, I would show off to anyone. I must see this. I was very proud at that time.
If I think back to my book collection for most of my life, the most proud or satisfying stage is that I own the first bookshelf.
Yang Zao: I was particularly touched by Mr. Wei Li’s talk about the link between a poor boy and a rich man. Looking back, the moment when I was the happiest was when I just graduated from university and was assigned to a newspaper office. square meters of dormitory.
Because before in college, several people shared a room, at most ten people shared a room, and suddenly one day I had my own room, although it was only six square meters.
I ran to buy two bookcases at the first time, but there was no room for two bookcases in a six-square-meter room, plus a computer desk with a width of one person, and a 90-centimeter single bed. You have to sit on the bed when you enter the door.
My mother came to see me, sat on the bed when I entered, and then looked around, saying that your space is about the same as the taxi we took just now.
Like Mr. Xuecun, I also like to read while lying down. There is a bookcase next to the bed. When you lie down on the bed, light a lamp when the night is dark, and flip through the books there. You can reach out and get any book. .
At that time, although I was very tired every day, I went out at 5 o'clock in the morning and came back at 8 o'clock in the evening, but it felt very good to lie there and read a book at night.
Although the understanding of books is not as deep as it is now, it feels very good to keep in touch with the unknown world through each book.
And at that time, you often have a sense of ecstasy and superiority: When I read these books that others don't care about, I can feel a feeling that I am connected with other worlds.
As Borges said, if there is a shape to heaven, it is the shape of a library.
If there is any space in the future where you can put your soul, it must be the study.
It must not be another space, and it must not be a toilet.
The soul of everyone, especially the book collector, is condensed in the study
Yang Zao: I would like to ask everyone to talk about what kind of people you would like to let into your study?
Is it very private or very public?
Wei Li: It is also a point that confuses me whether the study is allowed to be seen.
I am very willing to share with others, including those rare copies I have hidden, but in the process, I will meet all kinds of people, and sometimes it is very surprising.
I think the ancients wrote a book in the hope of sharing it with others. This book is the crystallization of his wisdom, and in this case it should be extended.
So from this point of view, when scholars and researchers need to use my books, I am basically open, but this will also bring practical problems.
For example, some people come to read books because they are curious. This kind of people accounts for a large proportion. In theory, this is also a kind of public welfare. You can let others experience what it is like to sit in a bookstore.
But I am also an ordinary person in reality, I can't spend a lot of time with everyone, because for me, this half day has just passed.
In short, under the current circumstances, it is unrealistic for my study to be completely open to the society, because it does not have social functions and does not have a comprehensive system like a library.
In fact, the study is also a very private place, which is not suitable for complete openness.
Because looking at a person's collection of books, you can know his preferences and some little secrets.
Most of the study rooms are built according to the hobbies of the study owners. The study room condenses the soul of everyone, especially the book collector. This soul was called Xuanxue in ancient times.
What does elective mean?
Means his choice.
Everyone has voyeurism. When an outsider enters a certain study room, he can spy on which books the owner reads, which books constitute which thoughts, and which books his thoughts come from.
This is the difference between a study and a bookstore. Opening a bookstore is more about what the readers like, and the study is what you like. These are two different concepts.
This is why so many people love the study room. The reason is that we want to know how his thoughts are composed. Although this understanding may be somewhat biased, don’t worry about it. As long as book lovers can sit together and love books Enough is enough.
With the owner present, this study has a real soul
Green Tea: Let me share a story with you. One year, I went to the home of Mr. Gao Mang, a translator, with Teacher Xuecun and Xiao Fuxing. Mr. Gao Mang’s study was called Tiger Cave.
At that time, Mr. Gao Mang was already in poor health. The old man was very happy to see us. His daughter said that he hadn’t painted for half a year. The three of us painted each other’s portraits at his place that day.
One of the paintings was Mr. Gao Mang painted by Mr. Xuecun. He drew together and stopped after a few strokes. He felt that this was not good enough and wanted to draw another one. After seeing it, Mr. Gao Mang said that I would complete it. I drew another self-portrait from Mr. Xuecun's painting with a few strokes, and the painting is very good.
The small gathering of four people in the study formed a very interesting and vivid picture. After that, Mr. Gao Mang passed away in less than half a year.
After watching Mr. Gao Mang that day, we passed another building in the car. I told Mr. Xuecun that this was the home of Mr. Wang Xuetai.
In fact, I can't wait to paint the study room these years because many old people are getting old. I want to have the opportunity to see his study room as soon as possible before he is alive, chat with him, paint his study room, or have a conversation with him. Talking has become a very urgent matter for me, and I always feel that I can't wait.
Including before that, I made an appointment with Mr. Shao Yanxiang to go to his study. The epidemic was serious, and I didn’t go there for a long time. Later, Mr. Shao Yanxiang also passed away.
The study room is different if this person is there or not, because his energy and spirit must be in the study room. After this person is gone, even if the study room is kept there intact, the study room will be different when you see it , Because there is this person, he is reading, he is looking at these books, these books are changing, and the furnishings in the study are changing in all aspects, that is different.
The study room should be a realistic study room, it must have an owner, and this study room has a real soul.