What do these books say about me?
“I suppose they say I’m a massive control freak. But I just like a certain degree of order in my life.”
What the books really say
Nicholas wears anonymous clothes of black and grey. But his mind is full of colour. His shelves are packed with Picador and Penguin, lined with idea after idea after idea. Though he wants visitors to react to his colour coding, what’s truly impressive is simply the number of books he has. He looks like a man who has read them all. All that knowledge!
Being organised is important: a bright mind works best if there’s some sort of order. And Nicholas has a system. It’s not completely traditional – that would be alphabetical order – but it is considered. He likes aesthetics as well as words (which explains the Man Who Fell To Earth poster). It would be nice if the other colours of the rainbow were represented in other rooms in his house. Penguin brought out paperbacks in red, yellow, blue, purple and pink, as well as orange and green. I think Nicholas needs a Ladybird section, too: with its colourful, numbered, slim volumes, they would fit perfectly into his life.
It’s sweet to see a collection of Thomas the Tank engine characters up there. The order is not so obvious – the tank engines have numbers, and they’re not lined up like that; also Diesel is in there, and he’s a baddie – but still, there they are, slotted in place, happily contemplating the rest of Nicholas’s rich hinterland.
Collecting Star Wars figurines, or old disco vinyl, or Adidas trainers might seem alien to Nicholas – he’s a literary man – but the instinct comes from the same place. It’s just a curiosity about what’s out there, a sense that time is passing, an interest that gets you out of the house and talking to people. Collectors use their hobbies to engage with the world; to bring back its wonders in hand-held form. And then, once home, to put the world in order.
If you would like Miranda to cast an eye over your favourite possession, email a photograph to magazine@observer.co.uk
