Rafe Mair Online

There is no way I’m going to stop electronic progress but I can still bitch about it.

Why do people email me in pale blue? I must hit the reply button then raise the font and make the print black. This pale blue bit seems to be spreading.

Why is there such an interest out there somewhere on the size of my penis, my ability to achieve an erection offering pictures of ladies who want me to call – I don’t believe it’s for a fourth at bridge, a chess match or a stimulating conversation. Stimulation probably but I gather that no conversation is required.

I can’t believe how much money I’ve made this year from legacies and business opportunities! From all over the world they write me and sometimes there are millions of dollars at stake!

Why do people want to talk to each other so often? When I’m in the car I want to listen to the peaceful classical music from my iPod, not Yankee Doodle Dandy signaling that someone wants my attention. One of the pleasures I have is not owning a blackberry. Whose opinion could I possibly want to hear so badly that I make myself available for text messages? I try to avoid my TV so terrible are the offerings so why the hell would I want a TV in my pocket?

Why is it that the other end of mobile phone calls are always so deaf that they must be shouted at?

I have a suspicion about heavy duty cell phone users. Back when, a person who wanted to impress would, when dining, bribe one of the servers to interrupt from time to time and tell him that there was a very important call waiting for him at the front desk. Some did it twice but three times was considered bad form and aroused suspicions.

Is it perhaps that the cell phone ringing at dinner, in church or at the symphony reveals a troubled inferior complex that feels better when a phone goes off in their pocket?

Email has had one egregiously evil result. I love books of letters. I feel the passions, hates and loves of collected letters between two people who have taken the time to sit down at a desk and send each other letters. Can you imagine a book of emails?

Of course not! We are witnessing the final death throes of the letter and that’s sad.

And books! Are we witnessing the end of books except in an antique in a case in the living room? In a glass case, locked to prevent needless handling?

I go to a lot of bookstores and can tell you that even the big chains and publishers are in trouble. I was talking with Stevie Cameron not long ago and I asked her about her latest book, On A Farm, the story of the Pickton serial case, and she told me getting published is much different these days and that she had to pay for the court transcripts herself. I’ve had 8 books published and now have two manuscripts searching for a publisher, evidently in vain.

In Britain, where I buy a lot of books, most of the smaller stores, including Hatchards on Piccadilly, have been bought out by large stores like Waterstones. Some, like Borders which is a huge American chain, have abandoned London altogether.

What about used books?

From what I can tell, they are surviving. In fact let me put in a plug for The Ambleside Bookbarn in Ambleside which is a bright, comfortable store with lots of places to sit and has a good selection. Many of you will remember when it was in the hands of the late David Moon and his version was unbelievable numbers of all manner of books in all manner of nooks and crannies. It was fun to be in except several hours were needed to do it justice and that wasn’t all bad.

The used book stores in London seem to be doing OK as is the outdoors used book market on the South side.

I suspect that the used book business will soon be hit hard as many old books will be put on e-books.

For me?

I love to feel and possess books (the last pleasure being the reading) and will continue to clutter my library with real books.

I’m no Luddite – though I can understand where they were coming from as they smashed machines^* – but some things I think are sacred and part of a civilized lifestyle – books, real books.

^* I recommend Peterloo, The “Massacre” and its Background by Donald Read, last published in 1958 but available at www.abebooks.com