若極端點兒分，看書之人無疑可以分為兩類。一類看書時必要洗凈雙手，坐于桌前，翻看時亦小心翼翼，絕不會持筆涂記，更不會看畢折頁為記，務(wù)使書遠(yuǎn)離一切可能受損之境，力保其即便閱過千次亦嶄新如初、絲毫無暇。另一類則完全相反，隨時隨地想看就看，哪怕是很容易將書弄臟也毫不在意，不時還拿筆在上面涂涂畫畫，中途休息時隨手一折書頁便撂下，甚至有時嫌書太厚不便攜帶或閱讀，干脆把書一撕幾沓，分而看之……對于前者，我們無疑都認(rèn)為他們很愛書，那后者呢？他們這樣虐待書也算愛書嗎？在你下定論前，不妨先來聽聽虐書人自己是怎么說的吧。

Yes. I admit it. I'm a true， incorrigible1） book abuser. I like to fold dog ears2）. I like to break my books open so that their backs crack. I'm delighted to find books that I've forgotten on the veranda， curled up and stiff from rain or morning dew. I love the texture of a worn book under my fingers—the worse， the better （as long as it sticks together， and no pages fall out）.

I had a friend， who loved scrunching3） all the pages of catalogues （you know， mail order and those kind of catalogues）， because it was just so lovely to flick through4） them like that. Though I haven't adapted this fetish5） （yet）， I can understand her.

I have a friend who is the exact opposite. She needs to keep her books pristine6） and virginal. I understand her. For about a minute or so， I want to preserve a new book as well， in the shape it is. It's the same feeling you get when you lay your hands on a brand new note-book. During those first trembling seconds when you hold it for the first time， you cannot understand how you could ever destroy this pure and sheer beauty. When you put your pencil to the first page， however， you are just as happy to fill it with your slanted， eager handwriting. It's like， once you get to know the book， you can't help but showing it some tough love. Love. Because， believe me， although it sounds like I'm a sadist7） without a heart， that's what it's all about. Not hidden aggressions， or a lack of respect； not at all.

Let me explain.

I have one book by my favorite author Diana Gabaldon that looks like crap8）. Really. It's completely crumpled up9） from rain， and on its way to falling apart. I brought it， like that， to Canada and had her sign it. I hope it wasn't too traumatic10） for her. I hope she realized what an honour it is to her as a writer. It means， basically， that I've read the book to bits. I wouldn't bother to mistreat books that don't mean anything to me. Only the best books gets read well， carried everywhere， subdued11） to intense reading where I'm so caught up with the words that I will spill coffee over it， since I wasn't really paying attention to where the cup was standing， and tipped it over while reaching for it. I have one book， by my other favorite author Margit Sandemo， that I actually dropped into the water， after reading it on the jetty12） of our summer-house. It's almost crispy and the pages crumpled， but oh-so-delightful to touch， and the memories are there： I remember that I was lying on a jetty， with the sun warming my back and the sound of seagulls in the distance， while reading this wonderful book.

For my further defense， I would like to call in a witness. I have a cook book， you see. Like almost all my other cook books， it's worn， and there are stains of food in it （tomato stains， grease to make the pages almost transparent， soy sauce—that sort of stuff）. The book is called Tex-Mex—Food， Music and the Joy of Life from Texas and is written by two Swedes—Jan Gradvall and Liselott Forslin. Just as the title suggests， this is more than a cook book， which I love.

On the very first page， the authors explain why the book exists in the first place：

Tex-Mex hasn't been trendy for over 30 years. Considering it's anything but cheap in calories， it probably never will be， either. Tacos13） are instead all about such an untrendy thing as a love for life. It's something you enjoy while spending time with your loved ones， something you indulge in when you don't have to think about making a good impression. Comfort and security is to gather up your friends and family and drink margaritas14） and eat Tex-Mex with your whole face. Love is to sit beside each other on the sofa and eat tacos until you fall backwards—with your hands stretched up in the air so as not to stain the sofa—and sigh heavily.... Maybe that's why Tex-Mex for a great many people is synonymous with a genuine love for life.

...

We hope， therefore， that this cook book will soon be as stained as a really old and used cook book should be.

Oh， how true！ How wonderfully put！ And it's the same thing for books： whether you're a book preserver or a book abuser， the approach is based on love （and a joy for life. Because I believe all who are passionate about books， are passionate people）.

So ... Now that we've cleared this out ... Which of these two types are you？

沒錯，我承認(rèn)，我是個不折不扣且不可救藥的虐書人。我喜歡把書頁折角，喜歡把書翻得很開，搞得書脊都要裂開?？吹轿衣湓陉柵_上的書因為下雨或是晨露打起了卷，變得發(fā)硬，我會感到很快樂。我愛極了舊書在我指尖的那種質(zhì)感，而且書弄得越破破爛爛越好（只要它還沒散架，沒有書頁脫落）。

我以前有個朋友，她喜歡把所有的目錄（你知道的，郵購訂單和諸如此類的商品目錄）頁都搞得皺皺巴巴的，因為那樣翻閱它們的感覺實在是太美妙了。雖然我（還）沒有養(yǎng)成這樣的癖好，但我能理解她。

我現(xiàn)在的另一個朋友則完全相反，她必須要讓自己的書保持嶄新無暇。我也能理解她。大概有那么一分鐘左右的時間，我也想好好保存一本新書，維持它買來時的模樣。這跟你把手放在一本嶄新的筆記本上時是同樣的感覺。當(dāng)你第一次把它拿在手里，在起初那令人神魂俱顫的幾秒鐘里，你無法理解自己怎么曾會對這純潔而不染一絲雜質(zhì)的美好下毒手。不過，一旦手中的鉛筆觸到書的扉頁，你就會興高采烈、迫不及待地用自己歪歪扭扭的字跡將其填滿。這就像是，一旦你對手中的書有所了解，你就忍不住要向它展現(xiàn)一點兒你那粗暴的愛。沒錯，是愛。因為，相信我，雖然聽起來我像是個鐵石心腸的虐待狂，但愛是這一切的終極原因。不是我暗藏攻擊性，也不是我對書缺乏尊重，跟這些統(tǒng)統(tǒng)無關(guān)。

讓我來解釋一下。

我有一本書，作者是我最喜歡的作家黛安娜·加巴爾東，那本書現(xiàn)在看起來就像是堆垃圾。真的，它因為淋過雨變得徹底皺皺巴巴的，而且快要散架了。我就拿著這樣一本書去了加拿大，請她在上面簽了名。我希望這不會讓她感到太過受傷。我希望她當(dāng)時能意識到，這對身為一位作家的她來說是多么大的榮耀。實際上，這意味著我曾一字一句仔仔細(xì)細(xì)讀過這本書。我才懶得蹂躪那些對我而言毫無意義的書。只有最好的書才會榮享我的認(rèn)真閱讀，被我隨身攜帶，被我專心研讀——這種時候，我過于沉浸在詞句中，都會把咖啡灑到書上，因為我當(dāng)時真沒怎么注意咖啡杯放在哪兒，伸手去拿時就把它給碰翻了。還有一本書是我最喜歡的另一位作家瑪吉特·桑德莫寫的，我在我們家消夏小屋的防波堤上讀的，讀完后居然把它給掉水里了。這本書現(xiàn)在幾乎一碰就要碎，書頁也都變得皺皺巴巴的，但是，哦，天哪，它摸起來是那么令人愉快，還滿載著當(dāng)時的回憶：我現(xiàn)在還記得當(dāng)時讀這本精彩的書時，我側(cè)躺在防洪堤上，太陽暖暖地照在背上，遠(yuǎn)處還回響著海鷗的鳴叫聲。

為了進一步給我自己辯白，我想傳喚一位證人。聽我說，我有一本烹飪書，它就跟我其他幾乎所有的烹飪書一樣，破舊不堪，上面還滿是食物的污漬（西紅柿汁、讓書頁變得幾乎透明的油漬、醬油漬——那一類的東西）。這本書叫《得州墨西哥菜——得克薩斯的食物、音樂與生活的美妙》，作者是兩個瑞典人——簡·格拉德瓦爾和莉澤洛特·福斯林。正如書名所示，這不只是一本烹飪書——這一點我非常喜歡。

在書的扉頁，兩位作者首先解釋了這本書誕生的緣由：

得州墨西哥菜在過去30年里并不流行，考慮到這類食物確實所含熱量甚高，恐怕它永遠(yuǎn)也不會太受歡迎。不過，墨西哥卷就是這樣一種不算流行的食物，它卻象征著對生活的熱愛。它是你和珍愛的人共度時光時會享用的食物，是你在無須考慮要給別人留下好印象時會縱情享受的美食。與家人和朋友聚在一起大口喝瑪格麗塔雞尾酒，縱情吃得州墨西哥菜，這就叫舒適和安心。愛，就是并肩坐在沙發(fā)上，吃墨西哥卷吃到肚子撐得鼓鼓的，整個人都倒進沙發(fā)里，雙手還高高舉著以防弄臟沙發(fā)，然后心滿意足地重重嘆上一口氣……也許，這就是為什么對許多人來說得州墨西哥菜就等同于對生活真正的熱愛。

……

因此，我們希望這本烹飪書可以很快就變得污跡斑斑，像一本真正有年頭的常被翻閱的烹飪書應(yīng)有的那樣。

啊，這話說得多在理，多精彩??！對書來說也是這樣：不管你是個護書人還是個虐書人，你怎么對待書都是源自對它的愛（還有對生活的享受，因為我相信所有愛書的人都是充滿熱忱的人）。

所以……既然我們已經(jīng)把這事兒說清楚了……你又是這兩種人中的哪一種呢？