愛書者，“毀”書不倦

我愛閱讀，但我待書卻不那么溫柔。我不愛用書簽，卻喜歡折頁(yè)腳；我愛在書上勾勾畫畫，還喜歡在空白處做旁注。你說(shuō)我這般“毀”書是因?yàn)椴粔驉蹠窟@我可不敢茍同。在我看來(lái)，謹(jǐn)慎待書是過(guò)分客氣，寫寫畫畫才是對(duì)書的肯定。我“毀”書，是因?yàn)槲覑蹠?/p>

Some people handle books so tenderly that even after they’ve read one cover to cover， it looks untouched. They turn each page carefully， and always use bookmarks. They refrain from cracking the spine. They never eat as they read， so the pages aren’t dotted with red sauce or spotted with chocolate. And they wouldn’t dream of1） leaving a book lying around where their Yorkie2）-poo3） （or toddler） might nibble4） the corners.

I am not like that.

When I read a book， I move right in and make myself at home. I dog-ear pages， underline， highlight and make marginal notes. I’ll use the blank pages to make shopping lists or jot down5） phone numbers. At the ballpark6）， I’ve been known to use that space to list the opening line-ups7） of both teams. By the time I’m through reading a book， you can definitely tell that I’ve been there.

Of course， I treat library books more carefully than I do my own books. After all， they have to last through many readers. And， as someone who works in a public library， I expect you to do the same. I might dog-ear the pages of the books I check out8）， but I refrain from writing in them. （Or I’ll make lightly penciled notes in the margins， which I’ll erase before returning.） Unlike some of our patrons， I don’t read library books in the tub9）. （And if I did， and they fell in， I wouldn’t sneak the water-logged book into the book drop and hope nobody noticed.）

Our patrons return library books not only waterlogged， but heavily underlined， stained with last night’s supper， gummed by toddlers， colored in by three-year-olds and chewed up by dogs. （It isn’t unusual for our books about puppy training to come back to us graced10） with at least a few teeth marks.）

Did you know that there are actually folks who correct—in ink—the spelling and grammatical errors they find in their library books？ I’m one librarian who welcomes this behavior. The way I see it， these unsung heroes， by maintaining standards of literacy in an age of creeping Twitter-speak， are performing a valuable public service.

I try to return my library books in the same condition they were in when I checked them out. But when it comes to my personal library？ I strip off the jacket！ I crack the spine！ I fold over corners. I underline. I don’t hesitate to leave my mark.

I happen to think that makes a book happy. Some of my best relationships have been with books. And who， in a relationship， wants to always be handled with kid gloves11）？ I don’t want to remain untouched by a book. Why should the book remain untouched by me？

If I were a book， I’d welcome underlining. It’s not disrespect. It’s affirmation. It’s a reader saying， “Yes！ Thanks！ I agree！ You rock！”

And folding over a page corner？ It doesn’t say， “I don’t care.” It says， “I’ll be back.”

My mother， from whom I got my love of reading， never saw eye to eye with12） me about this. Growing up， whenever she caught me folding over a page corner to mark my place， she’d say， “Use a bookmark！” and hand me a slip of paper， a napkin or a file card.

It was a losing battle. To this day， I shun bookmarks. But I’d never think of discouraging you， the library patron， from using them. Not because I’m tender-hearted about page corners. But because those of us who work in public libraries are so entertained by the stuff the reading public uses to mark their places with， then forgets to remove when the book is returned.

Airline tickets. Grocery coupons. Money！ （I once found a fifty in a copy of Get Rich Quick.） Family photos. Nudie photos. A marijuana leaf. Love letters.

Then there was the furious， heart-felt letter written by one of our patrons to her spouse， detailing every despicable thing he’d done during the course of their marriage， which fell out of a just-returned copy of Coping with Infidelity. Was it signed？ You bet.

Think about her the next time you’re tempted to grab a less-than-dignified photo of your hubby13） or a steamy14） love letter from your sweetie to mark your place in a library book.

Then play it safe15） and fold over the page corner.

有的人待書十分溫柔，即使他們從頭到尾讀完了整本書，那書看上去也像沒(méi)人碰過(guò)一樣。他們每翻一頁(yè)都小心翼翼，還總是使用書簽。他們盡力不折損書脊。他們從不邊讀書邊吃東西，所以書頁(yè)上沒(méi)有斑斑點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的紅色醬汁或巧克力。而且他們決不會(huì)把書落在約克夏幼犬（或是蹣跚學(xué)步的寶寶）可以啃到書角的地方。

我不像他們那樣。

我讀書時(shí)，直接翻開書頁(yè)，自己怎么舒服就怎么讀。我會(huì)在書頁(yè)上折角，畫下劃線，用熒光筆做標(biāo)記，還會(huì)做旁注。我會(huì)在空白頁(yè)上列購(gòu)物清單或是記電話號(hào)碼。在棒球場(chǎng)上，我會(huì)利用空白頁(yè)記下兩支球隊(duì)的出場(chǎng)陣容—這個(gè)大家都知道。我讀完一本書后，你肯定能發(fā)現(xiàn)我讀過(guò)的痕跡。

當(dāng)然，與對(duì)待自己的書相比，我對(duì)待圖書館的書要更小心一些。畢竟，它們還要給許多讀者去讀。而且，作為公共圖書館的工作人員，我希望你們也這么做。我或許會(huì)在借來(lái)的書上折角，但決不會(huì)在上面寫字。（或者我會(huì)用鉛筆在空白處輕輕地做筆記，但在還書前我會(huì)擦干凈。）我不像我們的一些讀者，會(huì)在浴缸里閱讀圖書館的書。（即使我這樣做了，書掉進(jìn)了浴缸，我也不會(huì)將浸了水的書偷偷放進(jìn)還書箱，希望沒(méi)人發(fā)現(xiàn)。）

我們的讀者歸還的書不僅浸了水，還到處都畫著下劃線，上面有頭天晚上飯菜的污漬，書頁(yè)被學(xué)步的幼兒粘在一起，三歲孩童在上面胡抹亂畫，還讓狗啃過(guò)。（我們那些有關(guān)幼犬訓(xùn)練的書籍還回來(lái)時(shí)，上面至少添有一些牙印，這很常見。）

你知道嗎？真的有人用鋼筆去糾正他們?cè)趫D書館借的書里發(fā)現(xiàn)的拼寫和語(yǔ)法錯(cuò)誤！作為一名圖書管理員，我對(duì)這種行為表示歡迎。在我看來(lái)，在這個(gè)網(wǎng)絡(luò)語(yǔ)言遍地開花的時(shí)代，這些無(wú)名英雄通過(guò)維持讀寫水平提供了可貴的公眾服務(wù)。

我盡量將圖書館的書原樣歸還。但要是我的個(gè)人藏書會(huì)怎樣呢？我剝掉護(hù)封，書脊開裂！我折頁(yè)角，畫下劃線，毫不猶豫地留下自己的印記。

我倒是認(rèn)為，這些做法會(huì)讓書高興。我有些最親密的關(guān)系都是與書相處的。在親密關(guān)系中，誰(shuí)會(huì)希望總是被小心謹(jǐn)慎地對(duì)待呢？我可不想始終都受不到書本的觸動(dòng)，那書憑什么就不該讓我觸碰呢？

如果我是一本書，我會(huì)歡迎讀者勾勾畫畫。這并非無(wú)禮，而是肯定。這是一個(gè)讀者在說(shuō)：“是的！謝謝！我同意！你太棒了！”

那折頁(yè)角意味著什么呢？這并不意味著“我不在乎”，而是在說(shuō)“我會(huì)回來(lái)的”。

我對(duì)書的熱愛源自媽媽，但在折頁(yè)角這件事上，我倆的意見卻從不一致。從小到大，每次媽媽抓到我折頁(yè)角標(biāo)記讀到哪里時(shí)，她都會(huì)說(shuō)：“用書簽！”然后遞給我一張小紙片、餐巾紙或是檔案卡。

這是一場(chǎng)必?cái)〉妮^量。直到今天，我都不愿用書簽。但我從未想過(guò)要?jiǎng)裾f(shuō)你們—圖書館借書的讀者們—也不用書簽。這并非因?yàn)槲覒z惜頁(yè)腳，而是因?yàn)樽x者們夾在書頁(yè)里用來(lái)做標(biāo)記、還書時(shí)又忘記抽走的那些東西，讓我們這些在公共圖書館工作的人忍俊不禁。

書里夾的有機(jī)票、雜貨店優(yōu)惠券，還有錢！（我曾在一本名為《快速致富》的書里發(fā)現(xiàn)過(guò)一張五十美元的鈔票。）家庭合影、裸照、大麻葉、情書也在其中。

然后還有一封言辭激烈但情深意切的信。這是我們的一位讀者寫給她丈夫的，信中詳細(xì)列舉了他們婚姻期間他做過(guò)的每一件卑鄙的事兒。此信是從一本剛剛歸還的名為《應(yīng)對(duì)不忠》的書里掉出來(lái)的。信署名了嗎？這還用問(wèn)。

下次，你要是再想抓張丈夫的不雅照或者愛人的熱烈情書當(dāng)書簽夾在圖書館借的書里時(shí)，就想想這位女士吧。

所以還是謹(jǐn)慎一點(diǎn)，折上頁(yè)角為好。

1.would not dream of：絕不；無(wú)論如何也不

2.Yorkie：約克夏犬

3.–poo：表示“小的”

4.nibble [?n?b（?）l] vt. 啃；輕咬

5.jot down：草草記下，匆匆寫下（地址等）

6.ballpark [?b??l?pɑ?（r）k] n. 棒球場(chǎng)

7.line-up：球員陣容

8.check out：辦妥手續(xù)取出（或借出）

9.tub [t?b] n. 浴缸

10.grace [ɡre?s] vt. 為……增色，使更加優(yōu)美

11.handle with kid gloves：小心謹(jǐn)慎地對(duì)待

12.see eye to eye with：（與某人）看法完全一致

13.hubby [?h?bi] n. 丈夫

14.steamy [?sti?mi] adj. 激情熱辣的

15.play it safe：謹(jǐn)慎行事