Poll

[wellinghall]

[Poll #1270404]

Comments

[gramarye1971]

Herein lies my awful 'it depends' answer.

Are these books part of a collection -- that is, a specific attempt to collect copies of these books? Do some of the editions have sentimental value, or inscriptions, or other reasons to keep them? Or have they simply accumulated over time and are still around for reasons of pure laziness? ^_^

[arda-unmarred.livejournal.com]

In words of Amy Winehouse, 'I say No... No... No...'

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I am presuming that these numbers are based upon an audit of your library shelves...

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, I mean, I always worked on the rule of thumb that all I could need is a nice hardback version to look pretty, separate volumes for general reading, a few special/early editions, a spoken version and foreign language versions.

(I do have 3 different versions of the film DVDs though. *cough*.)

[piqueen.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming you mean for one individual or possibly a couple and not say a school or a library.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I said 'too many' but am now thinking: that is more than is needed for most content-related purpose, such as reading the stories, or enjoying the illustrations. For such a purpose, I would usher you gently in the direction of populating your shelves further with other enjoyable volumes.

However, if you have an ambition to build, for example, a replica Tower of Babel, using the works of Tolkien as bricks, or if you are considering them as hurling weapons to be used in the event of a potential zombie invasion, or even if you consider them to provide superior insulation to that provided by the works of other authors - you clearly don't have anything like enough. :-p

[segh.livejournal.com]

You should have a "that depends" option, as gramarye says. I should love, for instance, to have the Tove Jansson-illustrated Hobbit, but I don't know that I'd want 20 more copies of JRRT's own illustrations.

[miss-t-ide.livejournal.com]

Blimey! Too many for me, but if owning that many copies of those books floats your boat (and your wife doesn't mind) then, who am I to argue?

[didiusjulianus.livejournal.com]

His wife's probably got a similarly numbered collection.

(Or more seriously, this is the joint haul).

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

It would certainly be too many for me. I'm being very ruthless with books at the moment; most of them are going back to the charity shop once I've read them. But bear in mind I'm in a rented flat within walking distance of a well-stocked library. I'm not going to fill my place with stuff I'll only have to move in a couple of years.

[pellegrina.livejournal.com]

... for the available shelf space in any dwelling I have ever lived in...

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Define "too many" ...

[na-lon.livejournal.com]

I'd go with too many, but then I am trying to figure out how to clear some space all over our house, which contains even more copies of the first two titles above mentioned, for the benefit of our daughter... ;-)

But if you enjoy them, they *are* just the right number.

[camillofan.livejournal.com]

One copy of The Silmarillion is too many.

For me, I mean. ;-)

[overconvergent.livejournal.com]

I was about to say something similar ... ;)

[thecatsamuel.livejournal.com]

If you have enough book shelves (a topic of hot debate in my house right at this moment owing to my recent trip to buy course books) then the answer is ... as many copies as you like! And I have to agree with the above on The Silmarrillion but I guess if you love and cherish them, that's fine. DO you love and cherish them?!

[lalwendeboggart.livejournal.com]

Purely from a practical point of view, with the rising cost of fuel bills, having lots of books lining the walls of your home will help to insulate it this winter ;)

[romancinger.livejournal.com]

The poll obstinately gave me the answers and not the boxes to tick. So: yes, too many. I have several copies of each (original, reading copy, illustrated copy) but nothing like THAT many!