Arguing Over Culture Is Often Futile
My favorite fake library was in the now-defunct Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Manalapan, Florida, just south of Palm Beach. I was meeting someone there and thought, oh, a hushed library would be a nice place to hang out. The "clubby room" had carefully arranged books, all with leather covers in the same moss green. Closer inspection showed titles all in Dutch. I decided to wait in the bar.
As you may guess by now, we're not here to discuss the merits or silliness of bookshelf wealth. We are here to argue against arguing about it for any purpose other than the recreational.
If someone wants to arrange a bookshelf in a way to imply intellectual heft -- or to display a bowling trophy -- it's their bookshelf. As for those who don't read but want to portray a rich life of the mind, no one's stopping them.
Kindle has complicated matters for readers who like to have physical books around them. An interesting thing about bookshelf wealth is that it promotes sales of the old-fashioned paper product. Serious readers can stick a finger in the eye of the bookshelf wealth aesthetic by topping a stack with a Big Bird plush toy, but they should know, that's posing, too.
Given today's politics, one is not sure how long TikTok will be with us. But as long as it is, be aware that what TikTok features, TikTok mocks. There may be important concerns over whether the social media platform gives the Chinese government a tool to spy on us, but TikTok does one useful thing: It cuts silly cultural conflicts down to size.
Thus, declaring winners in the bookshelf wealth debate is of no consequence, even to the winners. Everyone does what they want with their bookshelves. That's as it should be.
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Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.
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