If you’ve been on Netflix lately, you might have discovered the wonderful world of Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. It’s a delightful series, both educational and motivating, and it’s just pure as hell.
But, there have been some rumblings on Twitter over some of Kondo’s tidying up advice.
In the series, the Japanese author and consultant comes to the aid of families who require help in decluttering. In order to sort through their belongings, clients must see if it “sparks joy”. For example: you pick up an old sweater you haven’t worn in years. Just holding it brings back happy memories so on Kondo’s advice, you keep the sweater. Next, you pick up an impulse-buy pair of jeans. You’ve worn them once or twice but they aren’t really your thing so they go in the donations pile.
Kondo applies this to everything. Clothes, toys, Christmas decorations, souvenirs, baseball cards, bits and botts, and books. In fact in one episode, Kondo helps two writers sort through a whole bunch of books.
Unsurprisingly, the mere idea of this sparked a full-blown debate on Twitter so if you ever doubted just how passionate people are about their books, look no further.
Thank you all for your incredible response to my uprising against Konmari The notion that books should spark joy is a LUDICROUS one. I have said it a hundred times: Literature does not exist only to comfort and placate us. It should disturb + perturb us. Life is disturbing.
— Anakana Schofield (@AnakanaSchofiel) January 4, 2019
Woof – 20,000 likes on that first tweet and there’s a whole thread in there in which people argue, argue, and argue.
I'm a Marie Kondo devotee, but I disagree with her when it comes to books. Books are works of art. They enrich a reader's life, are an avenue for introspection, escape, conversation, and empathy, and help to make a house a home. They spark joy and so much more! #booklover https://t.co/4dWfXZ783t
— GreekGirl (@GreekGirl2018) January 4, 2019
I just don’t trust someone who doesn’t understand the magic of books. (This is a Marie Kondo subtweet) Books come to us when they are supposed to and we read them when we are meant to. They are not interchangeable, indistinguishable blocks of text. pic.twitter.com/sW4rEUeute
— Kelli G ✨ (@glazebrookgirl) January 4, 2019
Wait Marie Kondo is telling people to toss their books? THEIR BOOKS? pic.twitter.com/QQxAXwk3Sq
— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) January 4, 2019
Joanna Robinson, a senior writer at Vanity Fair, continued: “Up to this point I was VERY cool with her whole thing. But in my view you can declutter everything except books and art and plants.”
It all got a little out of hand and while some people tried to explain Kondo’s philosophy to those opposed, others decided it was time to take the piss out of the entire thing.
So sad to learn that Marie Kondo is breaking into people's houses and throwing out all their books
(I assume this is what is happening based on some reactions on twitter)
— Jamie McKelvie (@McKelvie) January 5, 2019
I cant believe Marie Kondo said to destroy all books and then broke into peoples’ houses individually and made them eat all their books and then when they tried to protest she said “don’t talk with your mouth full of books, bookmouth” and all the cool kids laughed at them.
— Sam Sykes (@SamSykesSwears) January 5, 2019
i can’t believe marie kondo said “ALL BOOKS ARE USELESS TRASH” and told everyone to take a piss on all of their books and burn them to ashes
— SungWon Cho (ProZD) (@prozdkp) January 5, 2019
owning books doesn't make you a better person too many ppl shitting on marie kondo's opinion substitute owning things for having a personality
— wendy xu (@AngrygirLcomics) January 4, 2019
Marie Kondo: h-
People With Too Many Books: I CANT BELIEVE YOURE FORCING ME TO BURN ALL OF MY BOOKS
— betty felon (@bettyfelon) January 4, 2019
maybe I missed the part when Marie Kondo held people at gunpoint and made them shred their favorite books
— Phil Stamper ????????️???? (@stampepk) January 4, 2019
WHAT MARIE KONDO SAYS: Think about getting rid of books you aren't going to read or reread.
WHAT TWITTER HEARS: Let's burn all books and slay the writers! Let the streets run red with their blood as our literary pyre's smoke blocks out the sun! FUCK BOOKS.
— Kevin Church ???????? (@Kevin_Church) January 5, 2019
Others just made very good points.
I've been out & about today so have missed most of the day's controversies but did someone suggest Marie Kondo is bad for telling people to get rid of books they don't read
as if that isn't … a perfectly normal thing that book-lovers do all the time
to make room for new books
— Amal El-Mohtar (@tithenai) January 5, 2019
Marie Kondo didn’t say get rid of all your books, you morons.
— Laura Waddell (@lauraewaddell) January 5, 2019
Ah Twitter, you beautiful, beautiful hot mess.
Tidying Up With Marie is available on Netflix.
You can find her books on her website, HERE.
Image: Netflix / Tidying With Marie Kondo
