Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for October 24, 2012

You can see that Goat feels bad about what he’s done; it’s written all over his face.

Goat should have known better. Rat was too expressive, to the point of assault, but made an impression on Goat, possibly with a permanent marker.

… come on, Goat, that is rather rude …I’da thot better of ya

this isn’t very characteristic of goat…steph, what were you thinking?

As a former reseller, I can say I’d have beat him over the head with the defaced book. There are idiots who stick permanent address labels or Belongs to_____ labels in the front of first editions, What matters most is that no reader should be so foolish.

What kind of book would Rat own that Goat would even want to read? Or what kind of book would Rat even read?

Nice of Goat to just sit there while Rat writes on every inch of him. So is this strip EVER funny? Or just all reputation?

I once loaned a book to soomeone who finally returned it WITHOUT THE COVER!

Stung once by non-returning book-borrowers, I generally no longer loan. But I do often annotate or add marginalia in my books (not, please note, in other people’s books), a traditional as old as manuscripts! I sympathize with Rat, but find his retaliation a bit extreme.

What’s a “book?”

In line with a lot of other people in this thread – treat other people’s books with respect! If only Rat could learn to treat other people with respect!

Goat and rat surprised me.

I’m with Rat on this one. Have I ever underlined or high lighted things? Yes, xeroxes and printouts of articles I’ve either been given or printed out myself. But not books.

I have to say that I, too, agree with Rat on this one. I seldom loan books, though and I keep them, I don’t re-sell them and if I want to stick a label in it or write in it, throw it in the trash or give it to Goodwill, that’s my business. I would never loan a book again to Goat, although I also am curious as to what book it could possibly have been.

Read it first, then decide whether or not it needs defacing.

“Neither a borrower nor a lender be….”

For once I am with rat on this one.

I’m with rat on this

Really, people do what Goat did?

Freeholder1 I am with you on this. If you have to highlight use post it notes.

This is a first. I’m totally in sympathy with one of Rat’s outbreaks of violence. It’s irritating enough to see people underlining, highlighting, and writing notes in their own books. If they do it to mine, there will be blood.

When I get a used book which has been highlighted and annotated by a previous owner, the remarks are almost always completely inane in any case.

Rat reads books?

I always enjoy Stefan’s understated humor! Well, not always understated!! Haha.

A couple of pencils would fit nicely in Goat’s nose……They’re pencils, so he can remove them if he wants

I hate it when a writer temporarily redefines characters’ traits in the service of the writer’s idea. Goat’s not the kind of person who would do this, nor would he and rat’s tastes in books overlap in the slightest. And why the heck would rat even lend someone a book, that doesn’t seem in character.

Why goat and not pig? Pig could have borrowed without permission (since they live together) and is much more likely to be interested in a book rat would have and is much more likely to draw underlines in books while he reads.

Goat is lucky Rat didn’t erase him……..

This was the whole purpose of Rat lending out a book.

Hope that’s a lesson learned, Goat.

Rat could have got the famous cricket bat out again.

xxx

Goat is just reading between the lines.

“are there people that really underline as they read?”There’s me – I used to underline loads and heaps when I was taking a course and came across something important-looking in my textbook. Did it in pencil, though, so I could erase it. (Got to give Goat credit for that, at least.)

I get so mad when library books have underlining and/or notes in pencil or ink, it’s a terrible distraction. Who is so arrogant as to scribble in a book other people will want to read? Total. Complete. Jerks.

Yes, particularly university students who mark key thoughts, particularly in General Education core subjects. Stop by any buy-back and you’ll see that the most underlined books get bought the fastest because all the important stuff is marked already.I underline in my own books because they’re for me to use, not necessarily anyone else. People who would never walk into a bookstore and steal a book off the shelf don’t seem to consider it stealing to “borrow” a book and never return it, and yet they “forget” to return your book. After the second friendly reminder, I have been known to send a certified letter to get the theif’s attention.

Um, rat is known for being extreme I believe….

Yes, ‘That Rat is a real sharpie’And he is loyal to the brand. He uses only ‘Sharpie Markers.’

Bravo Rat. If you borrow a book return it exactly as you received it or else.

At least it didn’t have a moving cartoon in the margins

I purchased a “new” book once, only to find that someone had underlined and written in the margins. I could not even return the book. I purchased another copy for myself, as I will not ever mark in a book (college text books are exceptions). A friend purchased it and she loves to mark in her books. It worked out perfectly..Eventually, sharpies will ‘wear’ off your skin. Actually, our skin sloughs away, so within a week, the lines will be gone.

ha ha thats why i don’t some people borrow my stuff

he forgot to dot his eyes with his fist

1) I would loooove to see Paris try to do that on a Kindle! 2) One of the rodent’s favorite books is “The Collected Wisdom of Barack Romney & Willard M. Obama”. All the pages are BLANK!

Goat doing something STUPID? This comic really blows my mind sometimes.

True story: decided to read all Ian Fleming James Bond novels at the library. One went into great detail about the guns he would use and their ammo. Somebody had underlined all those passages and marked in the margins where they might buy them. Spooky, huh? I reported it to the authorities. Don’t know what ever happened.

My husband is much harder on our books than I am, and it drives me up the wall.

At last, Goat makes a social faux pas. I do underline in my own books, but only study books and my Bibles.

Can you prove Goat’s Last Theorem?

I’m with Rat here. I HATE people who do that.

I loaned out a book once, with the explicit instructions that I really wanted it back—I was a poor college student at the time. Of course, it got loaned further, and never did show up again. Oddly, most of the books I don’t care much about do return.

I thought Goat was more thoughtful than that.

Oh, ya think, Einstein?!

I’m also with Rat. Is this the first strip where everyone is with Rat and against Goat? Maybe Goat’s still a bit out of it from being smacked by Pig! Or maybe everyone else’s rudeness and ignorance are rubbing off on him…

What kind of person writes on their book?? Eww