I found a book on my way to work. It was left on the seat of the early morning train. It was probaly left behind by an other commuter just like me, who was too tired at 6 am to remember take the book with her....I opened up and started reading that morning...Yes, I still have the book.
Please, read my debate, and tell me what should I do!1. The book is not the greatest gem of literature, it is an autobiography of Ben Cousins, but I lost a dear friend to drugs and I am eager to learn about one's struggle.
2. As I said, there is not much artistic or aesthetic value to this book, but it certainly describes an important character development : someone's battle with their demons, committing then admitting their wrong doing. It has always been a fascinating theme since Faust and Raskolnikov .... In this book we find the very same personal battle even if it is lived through by a spoiled / overpaid football player. Could I be mistaken and maybe this book was written just to clean up his public profile and revive is career? I can not tell it yet..
3. My mother had an ex-libris stamp in her books, so the books could be returned to her , in case she lost one... Ex libris is now old fashioned, if not non-existent. How do I know that this book will be returned to it's rightful owner?
4. I am learning a lot about AFL.
5. I promised myself to turn the book in to CityRail after reading ...after all, it's someone else's property.... They must have got a Lost and found Department full of umbrellas and paperbacks .
So, kind visitor to this blog, please be my judge and give me your verdict...should we ever keep a found book ? What would you do?
Interesting questions you raise here about whether it is ethically correct to keep the book you found or should you hand it in to Lost Property department.
ReplyDeleteIf the book was valuable, I would certainly suggest handing it in straight away.
But any book is expensive enough and maybe the owner cant afford to buy another copy.
But maybe the "forces of the universe" wanted you to read that book, so maybe "finders-keepers".
Maybe after you have read it, you could set it free on the train again for someone else to find?
Have you seen the website called Book-Crossings? http://www.bookcrossing.com/ They advocate setting books free in the wild to share with other people.