Beer and books

Books are great teachers, quiet and seemingly peaceful, but they are actually treasures of knowledge, sometimes containing stories, telling of stormy lives.

Lucky are those who live in a house with a bookshelf, especially if it is carefully selected. Each member will live in its magical light. Lucky are those who, since childhood, have read a book that they love. Even those are bedside books, so that they can not only read it once, but can read it again and again, ponder over it many times.

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Are people being cruel to books, or is there some more fundamental reason that pushes people to go to bars more than to libraries and bookstores? But surely, it would be a disadvantage and a great loss if our souls no longer had enough feeling to love books, and live better with what books bring.

In the past, living in the countryside, books were extremely rare. My grandfather often went to town to borrow thick, seemingly old books to read. He also did not forget to borrow thin, easy-to-read books, which instilled innocence and aspiration in us. We, the grandchildren and the children in the neighborhood, often passed them around to read. In my mind, I always had one thing in mind: read to live as my grandfather taught, because books are teachers. Worried about those thick books, I wondered if adults read big books, which meant meeting great teachers. When I asked him, he said: “Thick books are not necessarily good. Their value lies in each person’s own perception. It’s just that adults will read more difficult books than children.” At that time, I had read “The Adventures of Crickets”, “Southern Forest Land”… and longed to read more valuable books for children like that.

Later, when I went to school in the city, the teachers also talked a lot about “teacher of books” and their value in life. However, not everyone thinks about that and appreciates books. There will be people who love books like their flesh and blood, reading them every day like eating, drinking and breathing. There are people who only read when they really need it and let it pass. Of course, those who love books and read diligently will have a rich and unique cultural and spiritual life.

Nowadays, people still say that reading culture is declining. It is understandable, life is still difficult, when people are busy making a living, busy in the dream of escaping poverty, there are also people who are far from books. Or people indulge in drinking, partying at bars, laughing, talking, and vomiting. However, to invest a few tens of thousands of dong to buy a book to read is also… embarrassing.

Then in the luxurious, multi-storey houses, each floor has bright furniture, with large wine cabinets, filled with expensive, sparkling foreign wines. However, looking for a small bookcase is impossible. Investing in a bookcase is not as expensive as a wine cabinet, but wine-loving homeowners still continue to enrich their wine storage.

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In the past, living in the countryside, books were extremely rare. My grandfather often went to town to borrow thick, old-looking books to read. He also did not forget to borrow thin, easy-to-read books, which were the books that instilled innocence and aspiration in our hearts.

Does anyone still read and live with books, as there was a time when the soul of books reigned in the lives of some people, to the point that they forgot to eat and sleep to be absorbed in the words? Are people being cruel to books, or is there some reason, more fundamental than that, that pushes people to go to drinking places more than to libraries and bookstores? But certainly, it would be a disadvantage and a great loss, if our souls no longer had enough feeling to love books, and live better with what books bring.

I have seen beer-bellied guys who play with books, collect books. They have a lot of money to buy large, luxurious bookshelves, buy lots of rare books, some of which are as thick as a hand. But they only display them like that, to show off their love of learning and reading. To show off their high moral standards. They never read. Those books are never opened. Strangely enough, the bookshelves keep getting bigger, like their beer-filled bellies.

I met those people again at the beer hall. They also showed off their knowledge and books as they were showing off their growing, sagging breasts. One man said he had just invested ten million in buying books at the fair, and had a large bookcase. This man said: “I drank a lot of beer, but the money spent on books was not that much.” The other man responded: “That’s right, just buy them and put them in there, read them whenever you can. You and I share that hobby, it’s fun. In the future, I might buy another ten million to put in some new ivory bookshelves. At least it will make my house look nice.”

Every time a book fair ends, people say that tens of thousands of books have been bought. Many books are discounted by more than half, some are sold at the same price. For 5,000 or 10,000, you can own a book. For 50,000, you can also take home 10 books. There are many people who go and carry them home. They jostle each other, even push each other to park their cars. Among them, there are some who only come to collect books to fill their shelves. A rare opportunity for cheap books that are still new. Unlike going out on the street to pick up scraps, buying books at a big discount but they are pirated books, from a long time ago, when you bring them home, the covers are bent, the edges are torn or covered in dust. Comparing beer with books, many people are still happy. Because after all, if someone spends money on beer to buy books, even if they don't read them, it is very useful. At least it contributes to the consumption of books for the publishing industry, a little bit deepening the reading culture because they are also people who... buy books. Accordingly, it also reduces some of the alcohol absorbed into the body.

However, there is an opinion about these guys that we think makes sense. That is, they have money, money invested in buying books, money invested in drinking beer has not decreased but has increased somewhat. Because they buy books, talk about books, they drink beer to celebrate.

But anyway, you have contributed to comforting and helping the publishing industry feel less miserable. Many companies are operating at a loss, publishers have to work hard to find partners and sell licenses to increase their meager income.

If we count each discounted book, then each glass of draft beer can be exchanged for one book. Hundreds of thousands of glasses of draft beer consumed every day can be exchanged for hundreds of thousands of books. Who says our people don't have money to buy books? Our people have money, but even if they lack money, they always have to think about food and drink first. Few people give up beer to buy books. Few people still love books like before, saving money for snacks and breakfast to buy the books they like.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/bia-hoi-va-sach-10293809.html