The only purpose for a hardback cover is for it to look nice on a shelf. If you actually read, a paperback is superior in every way.
this is just a retarded dichotomyI buy whatever is the cheapest option
If it's a book you'll read multiple times though, hardback is better, or if it's a big book.
>>24937599yes.i much prefer the physical experience of a paperback, but they're low quality, the paper yellows and degrades, the covers fall apart. if it's a book i plan to return to for years to come, like some type of reference material, or a theological or philosophical work that i'm going to want to keep forever, and use regularly it just needs to be hardcover.
depends entirely on quality of paper/printing and quality of bindingthere is no paperback equivalent to a hardcover with sewn signatures on quality paper (that, depending on what book it is, may have transparency plates, color prints, etc.)if we're talking about crappy hardcovers that are identical to paperbacks except for the covers, then >>24937597
>>24937587I mostly read in bed, where hardcovers are just too uncomfortable to hold. I'm content with my library being mostly paperback. Even the cheapest mass market ones, 30 year old second-hand books with cracked spines, are still readable.
the only reason to buy a book is for interior decoration or the pathetic need to curate an image through the consumption of commodities, that being said, hardcover is a no brainer.if you enjoy reading, get an ereader.
>>24937587It doesn't matter, what matters is the dimensions of the book, it must be holdable for nearly infinite time.
>if you actually read, you prefer shittier paper, cheaper printing, text that disappears into the spine because of the smaller dimensions, and a spine with a title that will become illegible after a few readsOP is experiencing poorfag envy because a hardcover costs a few dollars more but publishers and readers from time immemorial have recognized their obvious superiority as an undisputed fact
>>24937909surely you jest
>>24937587The only reason paperback books exist is so jewish publishers can make more money selling an inferior product. All books were hardback until jews started printing dime novels.
>>24937587Paperback for slop, leather for proper books.
Most hardcovers made today are worse quality than the paperbacks and will break apart much earlier. Everything has been ruined, production most of all.
>>24939545Show us a hardcover you've broken, gorilla
You’re all so stupid
I don't like that the pages bend while reading.
>>24939329What claim of mine seems jestful?
>>24937874What makes you think the act of reading itself isn't also a type of commodity consumption? Why is that only limited to the ownership of the physical book itself? Is it not true, that once upon a time, people used to consume and discuss novels the same way they discuss movies and memes today? The "pathetic" image being curated is not simply finished by putting the books on a bookshelf, but also in the act of reading it, discussing it, and letting it influence.
>>24937587ebook mogs
>>24937587A hard cover is to preserve your favorite books and treat them with care and respect. Paperbacks are more like disposable beater books that you carry with you everywhere and treat them like shit. Hardcovers are also necessary for longer books. A paperback of something like War and Peace looks ridiculous and cumbersome to handle.
>>24937587I just moved house, despite best efforts you'll get some shifting boxes and paperbacks will get pressed up somewhere and the pages curl. Hardcover didn't have that problem. Also, generally standing and displaying books, I have a bookcase plus one shelf for active reads, and that gets rotated/taken out frequently. Hardcovers stay put while paperbacks fall overNot that hardcovers are that much better than paperbacks it justifies never buying paperback, they're mostly the same but there's a couple benefits regarding storage
>>24941607Just gently break in the spine? My paperback Count of Monte Cristo (similar in size), was a pleasure to read.But I do agree with your general point of getting hardbacks for the books you really care about.
>>24937587Imagine buying books just so they look pretty on the shelf. Even worse is because of how we generally store them on shelves you can't even SEE the covers.
>>24941753modern covers are so bad that's probably a godo thing
in short books it makes no differencebut in books above 300-400 pages you got to go for hardcover otherwise spine cracks
I like to sit on my desk and open my heavy hardcovers wide so that I feel like I'm a wizard reading a grimoire
