The thought of tearing apart/desecrating a written book gives me the shivers. It doesn't matter if it's in a language I don't understand. Or maybe it's just me :)
It's weird, but the kindle changed my relationship with books. Before the kindle they were something sacred, and a I had a big spreadsheet with the books I had, I had read and I wanted to have, and annotations regarding the lent status.
Now I read more, but value each individual book less. It's weird.
I have the same thought, but had really wanted a "book safe" since watching The Matrix. Enter an old college textbook. Selling for $0.01 on Amazon and now 3 editions old. It was a fun project.
Any book still usable though, I don't have the heart to cut into it.
There's always the option of finding a nicely sized hardcover blank sheet notebook, which is what immediately came to mind when I saw this (though the book used in the article does look gorgeous.)
I feel the same way in some sense but the idea of desecrating a book usually only arises for me when it's being used as a symbol for some unpleasant cause. This particular book is now serving a new purpose and is loved and appreciated in a new way. Also, for me owning a Kindle certainly hasn't diminished my love of having and reading from printed books. I'd really like to see Amazon offering bundle deals where I could buy a physical copy and get the digital version included.
Would you still feel that way about a book a thrift store has several (possibly over a dozen) copies of, such as _Megatrends_, Lee Iaccoca's biography, or old (and terrible) microwave cookbooks?
I understand where you're coming from, and mostly agree with you, but there are many copies of old bestseller (or otherwise overproduced) books that are just taking up space.
Now I read more, but value each individual book less. It's weird.