On Destroying the Books: Second Year English, Lesson # 5

Summary

J.C. Squire is British poet, critic and a well-known humorous writer. He selects unusual topics and turns them in ridiculous situation to create humor. “On Destroying Books” deals with a simple problem but he presents it in such a beautiful way that it holds the reader in suspense till the end of the story. In this essay, tea writer has told us about his adventure of throwing away the unwanted collection of books.

            Mr. Squire beings his story concerning news published in a daily. According to it about two million books were presented to the soldiers. Most of them were ordinary and quite book and old magazines. The writer suggests that lose their charm gradually. These books must be destroyed to make room for new ones. The writer does not consider it an easy task because these do not have as many lives as a cat and they die-hard.

            The writer says that he was living in a multi-story building in Chelsea. His apartment was small and a heap of books was there which he had accumulated during his literary life. These books were of temporary value and had become useless. Due to those books, the writer was not able to live properly. He seriously thought either to get them out or leave the place by himself. He wanted to get rid of them but did not know how to do that. He had no kitchen to burn so many books on the gas-cooker. It was not possible for him to burn the books leaf by leaf in small fireplace in his room it. He pondered over the matter and finally decided to throw the books into river.

            The writer prepared a sack and stuffed all the books into it for their disposal. It was almost mid-night and the sky was studded with starts when he stepped into the street. There was slight cold outside and the streets were presenting a deserted look. He turned up the collar of his over-coat, adjusted the sack comfortably over his shoulder and began to walk towards the river. On the way he happened to meet a few people but nobody paid any attention to him. At last, he reached near the bridge of the river and, there he saw a policeman who was throwing light on the catches of the basements with his lantern. He trembled with fear of being suspected as a thief but he was not seriously disturbed because he could face investigation. He felt relief, as the policeman did not even look at him.

            Then the writer started walking towards the river more rapidly and reached the embankment. While standing there, the writer thought about the complexities of his act. Suddenly he heard footsteps but the pedestrian passed by him unconcernedly. The writer was worried of being watches. Then the writer decided to avoid any further delay but, at the moment, he thought about the splash. He thought that the splash might divert the attention of the people to that place. The people would think that he had thrown and illegitimate baby. This thought loft the writer in a state of agony for a while. But he did not lose courage.

            The writer says that he did not know for how long he walked up and down making up his mind to throw the sack. At length, regardless of the consequences, He heaved up the sack and threw it. There was a loud splash but silence fell again. No one came there and all his fears proved base-less. As he walked towards his apartment, he sadly thought about the books and felt sorry for showing harsh attitude to the books. He consoled himself by saying that he wanted to make room for new and better books that he was intending to buy.

Questions Notes

 Q. 1: What sorts of books were presented by the British public to soldiers?

  Ans: Most of the books sent to soldiers were ordinary and suitable. But they were also presented oddest books such as twenty years old magazine, guides to the lake district and back numbers of Whitaker‟s almanac.

 Q. 2: Was it the interest of soldiers that prompted their action, it wished to get rid of the useless books?

 Ans No, it was not the interest of soldiers. In fact, they want to get rid of their old and useless books. So they sent them to the soldiers.

Q. 3: Why should bad books be destroyed?

  Ans Bad books should be destroyed so that there should be space for good and new books on the shelves. Moreover, it also saves one’s heirs from the trouble of sorting them out and storing.

Q. 4: Why is it difficult to destroy books?

  Ans It is difficult to destroy books because they die hard. We do not have a proper place to burn them. They are like cats and it is difficult to find a scaffold for them.

Q. 5: Why could not the author burn the unwanted books?

  Ans The author could not burn the unwanted books because he had no cooking range and he could not burn them on the gas cooker.

Q. 6: How did he decide to get rid of them?

  Ans He decided to get rid of them by throwing them into the river. He stuffed them into a sack and went to the river to throw them.

Q. 7: Describe the authors midnight venture to throw the books in the river and the suspicion which his action was likely to arouse?

  Ans At midnight, the author stuffed the books in a sack. He shouldered them and went to fling them into the river. He was terribly frightened at the sight of a policeman and a stranger. At last, he threw the books into the river after many difficulties.

Q. 8: How did he muster up courage, at last, to fling them into the river?

  Ans The writer was hesitant to throw them. Then he abused himself for his cowardice. At last, he mustered up courage and threw the sack into the river.

Q. 9: Did he come to have a feeling for those books once he had got rid of them?

 Ans He was sad after throwing the books. He thought that poor books met a fate worse than they deserve.

Q.10: What did the writer think about the splash?

  Ans The writer thought that people would catch him. They would think that he had thrown a baby into the river. Therefore, he was afraid of the splash of the sack.

Q.11: Give the names of the books that the writer threw into the river?

  Ans The names of the books are Odes to Diana, Sonnets to Ethel, Dramas on Love of Lancelot and Stanzas on a first Glimpse of Venice.

Q.12: What did the writer think when he saw the policeman on the way?

  Ans When he saw a policeman on the way, he became afraid. He thought that he would consider him a thief and arrest him. But the policeman did not take any notice of him.