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January 14, 2006
Missing pages….
I picked up a copy of Margaret Atwood’s Wilderness Tips from a charity shop and now I’m half way through I’ve noticed that thirty-odd pages are missing (thirty have been printed twice and it misses out the pages that are supposed to be there.) This makes four out of the ten short stories incomplete. I’m lucky enough not to have come across this problem before but I’m not sure what to do. My first reaction was to slip the whole copy into the paper recycling but this seems wasteful (that is a distortion of the truth, in fact I could not bring myself to do it because it felt like I was pulping a child who simply had a limb missing.)
What are my options?
1) I could pass it on through Bookcrossing or a charity shop with a note in the front explaining which stories are incomplete.
2) I could search for another copy through the library or Ebay and photocopy the missing pages and insert them in the book and then pass it on through Bookcrossing or charity.
3) Or I could pulp it convincing myself that it will be reincarnated as a copy of the Guardian (This last part is necessary because I would lose sleep in fear that my Margaret Atwood might become a Sun or Daily Mail.)
What would you do in this situation and how would you feel coming across a version of 1) or 2) in a charity shop or park bench? Would you pick it up or would you feel slightly cheated by a dud copy? If I’m honest I would probably pass it by as I’m slightly fussy about the condition of books (I don’t mind them being ‘lived in’ but I don’t like them to be trashed) unless the book is difficult to come by and then I’m not overly concerned. This is not the case with Wilderness Tips as you can pick up complete copies on Ebay for under a quid.
Over to you……
Posted by purple elephant at January 14, 2006 09:08 AM