On Destroying Books

By J.C Squire

J.C. Squire was a British poet, critic, and editor known for his satirical and literary essays. He played a significant role in the Georgian poetry movement and was influential in early 20th-century British literature through his editorial work. “On Destroying Books” is a satirical essay that explores the complex feelings and moral dilemmas associated with disposing of books. The author humorously debates whether it’s justifiable to destroy books, reflecting on the sentiment and intellectual value they hold.

Questions and Answers

Q: What sort of books were presented to the soldiers by the British public?

Ans. The soldiers were presented by the British public with very old magazines, guidebooks, old numbers of the Whitaker Almanac, and all such unwanted or trivial books that were no longer useful to them. Some of these books might get into the parcel by accident but there are more chances that people took it as an opportunity to get rid of unwanted books.

Q: Was it the interest of the soldiers that prompted their action, or was it the wish to get rid of useless books?

Ans. In some cases, there might be a genuine effort on the part of the people to send soldiers something worth reading but most often this is not the reason. In most cases, people take this as an opportunity to get rid of the junk they have collected in the name of books.

Q: Why should bad books be destroyed?

Ans. According to the author, it is absurd to keep rubbish merely because it is printed. He says that bad books should be destroyed because it will not only make room for the new books but also save the heirs the trouble of sorting out the rubbish or storing it.

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

Ans. The author could not burn the unwanted books because he had no kitchen range. He had a gas cooker but it was not possible to toast the books on it. It was also not possible for him to burn them in his study fire because he would have to do it leaf by leaf which was certainly a time-consuming process as he had a heap of unwanted books.

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

Ans. He finally decided to do to the books what so many people do to the kittens. He decided to put all the unwanted books in a sack and through them in the river.

Q: Describe the author’s midnight venture to throw the books in the river and the suspicions his actions were likely to arouse.

Ans. It was midnight and the air was icy cold when the author put the sack of books on his shoulder and started his journey towards the river. He met a policeman on the way who he thought looked suspicious of him. The author thought that the sack of books could be perceived as swag. When he finally reached the embankment and was about to throw the sack into the river, the full implications of his actions dawned upon him. If anyone happened to see him throw the sack in the river, it would appear to him that he is getting rid of the corpse after murdering it. No one especially the police would believe him that he threw a sack full of unwanted books into the river.

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

Ans. He told himself that if his friends came to know about his current condition, they would certainly think of him as a coward. He had reached a point of desperation. He told himself that what if they took him as a murderer and hanged him for it, better men than himself have gone to the gallows. So, with courage of despair, he finally threw the sack into the river and got rid of unwanted books.

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

Ans. Once he got rid of the books and was walking home, he became sad at their poor fate. The thought that those books would remain lying there forlorn and forgotten made him think that perhaps the fate of those books was worse than they deserved.