Ch 5: On Destroying Books : Book 2

C H #5             On Destroying Books

                                          J.C. Squire

 

Word	Meaning	Synonyms
Almanac	An annual publication including calendars, weather forecasts.	Yearbook, register, annual
Reluctant	Unwilling and hesitant	Unwilling, resistant, hesitant
Absurd	Illogical	Ridiculous, ludicrous, unreasonable
quailing	Feeling frightened	Shudder, tremble
Forlorn	Pitifully sad or lonely	Sad, dejected, regretful, mournful
Felicity	Intense happiness	Joy, rapture, bliss
Relish	Great enjoyment	Enjoy, zest
Strenuous	Of a great effort or exertion	Arduous, tiring, exhausting
Furtive	Do something in a secretive way	Secretive, covert, clandestine
Bluffers	To deceive someone by the fake display
Swag	Loot	Loot, burglar
Opaque	Not able to be seen through	Non-transparent, clouded, impenetrable

 

 

Introduction to the essay:

Jerome K Jerome, a famous humorous writer of our times, presents his experiences of imaginary diseases. Men like Jerome are difficult to find. However, when we find them we laugh at them with sympathy.

The title & Theme of the essay:

The story is about a strange man who began thinking that he had several of his diseases that people going to a hospital suffer from. He began feeling that he was a hospital. By looking at or reading about this man we begin feeling as if we are in some hospital.

 

Answer the Questions:

What sort of books were presented by the British public to soldiers and how?

According to the J.C. Squire, the British public presented twenty- year old magazines, guides to the Lake District, special books on information (Almanacs) and millions of other ordinary or useless books to the soldiers. The books might have included stories and novels. They were sent in parcels.

Q2. Was it interest in soldiers that prompted (caused) the public to send books or was it their wish to get rid of useless books?

According to the J.C. Squire, the British people were no doubt interested in the soldiers and wanted to please and satisfy them. But they also wanted to get rid of their useless or extra books. They found it a fine chance to send their extra books on the war occasion for a noble purpose.

Q3. Why should bad books be destroyed?

According to the J.C. Squire, it is absurd to keep rubbish only because it is printed. This is why it is positively a public duty to destroy them. It is so because worthless books should not occupy the much-needed space. It is difficult to find the books we need when the shelves are crowded with useless books. When we no more require a useless book, they may be sold, gifted or destroyed.

Q4. Why was it difficult for J.C. Squire to destroy his books?

It is absurd to keep rubbish only because it is printed. It is not easy to burn them as they have so many pages. According to the writer, books do not have as many lives as a cat, even then certainly they die very hard. In other words, it is not easy to destroy books because one needs courage and proper means to destroy them.

Q5. Why could the author not burn his unwanted books?

It was so because the books had hundreds of pages and it was not easy to find a place to burn them (a scaffold or platform). He was living in a small heaven-kissing flat. He had neither cooking range in his flat nor could burn so many books on a small fireplace leaf by leaf. So he decided to tie them in a sack and consign them to the river.

Q6. How did J.C. Squire decide to get rid of his useless books?

According to the J.C. Squire, it was difficult for him to destroy or burn their pages one by one. His flat was small on a high storey in which he could not burn his books page by page. He had neither cooking range in his flat nor could burn so many books on a small fireplace leaf by leaf. So he decided to tie them in a sack and consign them to the river.

Q7. Describe the author’s midnight venture (risky kind of work) to throw the books into the river and the suspicions which his action was likely to arouse.

According to the J.C. Squire, he took up his books in a sack at midnight and went out in the cold when all was quiet and lonely. He felt afraid of a policeman who might have caught him. He feared someone was following him, but went to the middle of the bridge and threw his books into the water with a splash.

Q8. How did the writer muster up (gather) courage, at last, to fling (throw) his books into the river?

On the wall of the bridge, J.C. Squire felt that someone might think that he was throwing an unwanted baby into the river. However, after sometime, an idea passes across his mind, that is, if he falls and loses image before his friends, he would never be able to rise up again. So crossing the embankment he came on a small projection and flung the sack of books in the river.

Q9. Did the writer come to have a feeling for the books once he had got rid of them?  Or) Describe (narrate) the feelings of J.C. Squire for the books while returning home.

J.C. Squire felt very sorry for the books when his sense recovered and felt sorry for them. He took pity on them. He thought how mud would cover them and they would be spoilt in the water. He remembered the titles of the books on poetry or drama. He spoke sorrowfully of their “living death” in water.