h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Blank Page Book - A87826756
Author: Florida Sailor - U235886

Let me hasten to say I have no financial interest in this subject'.

I was given one of these books many years ago, bought several others over the years, and will probably purchase a new one next time I am at the book-store.

I thought this might be a subject that others are unaware of, there is not a great deal on this subject on the interweb.

Thanks

F S

It always seems odd to me that we pay more for a book with completely blank pages than for one where the pages have been ruled out, or even filled with text.

This is a good entry, short and sweet. I wouldn't bother giving the ISBN of the Nothing Book, as there are so many of these books on offer.

You might add that these books are particularly pleasing to the eye, as they are available in many beautiful designs or just plain moleskin, and the covers are unsullied with names of authors, titles, or the dreaded "blurb".

I'm a great collector of notebooks . I have them in various sizes and both plain and patterned covers. Because I only write in mine, I don't mind if my notebooks have lines, but I can see that people who do sketches, or use their notebooks as scrapbooks would want plain ones.

But you can get plain notebooks in supermarkets. I think the blank page book would have to be beautiful for it to justify the extra cost. I might buy an expensive one for a friend but not for myself because I wouldn't want to write trash in it!

One or two detailed points-
The sentence beginning 'It could also be a repository of random thoughts' could suggest the thoughts are sitting on the bookshelf.

In the sentence beginning 'A bound listing',why should the major family events be randomly entered?

In the sentence beginning 'In short''loose' should be 'lose'.

Updated, I left the ISBN for the 'Nothing Book' only because I wanted something to show others, who might not be familiar with these books, that this is a legitimate Entry.

I hope I have addressed all the other concerns. Loose Lose I always get that one wrong

Thanx


F S

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Hi FS, I'm on my 3rd consecutive nothing book since I began caring for my mother. I bought the first, a plain purple cover, which I put a sticker on "Carers' Log", with ruled pages, and at first there was just me writing daily updates and reminders of things to do (it's kept in Mum's living room). The second was bought by my sister, its cover has lipstick kiss marks all over it, it's pink and red. That has contributions by my siblings (notes about Mum, their visits, reminders to me etc) and the occasional adult grandchild. The third nothing book is already started, they're going to be a priceless recollection in years to come, of what it took to care for an elderly person in their own home.

GB

"It could also be a repository of random thoughts that can be reviewed from your bookshelf. A bound listing of major family events randomly entered..."

In both cases "random" is used with its informal meaning. Strictly speaking, random means that every possibility had an equal chance of being selected. So all thoughts, or all major family events are equally likely to be in the note book.

Perhaps, since random is used informally twice so close together in the entry, one of them could be replaced with a different word. I usually suggest "arbitrary" to my students (and then have to explain since they have never heard of it before).