My mom used to say, as we pulled the car into the garage on any humid August day, “Well, we air-conditioned the house. We air-conditioned the car. If only we had air-conditioned the garage.”
I thought of my mother yesterday as I experienced a gap in comfort on my plane flight from Tampa. I had brought my Nook, loaded with dozens of downloaded books, and was merrily reading when the flight attendant announced, “Please turn off all electronic devices, including phones, computers, and Kindles.”
For just a minute, I considered taking advantage of the loophole, because I don’t have a Kindle, I have a Nook, but I followed the spirit rather than the letter of the law and powered down.
I’m not afraid of flying, but I’m afraid of flying—or waiting in the doctor’s office or watching television or sitting in a chair—without reading. So, I added this period of prohibited Nook usage to my list of reasons why I hope books will never disappear.
Here are the arguments on my list:
You can’t hand the book to the person you just know would love it. You can “lend” a book to fellow Nook owner, or you can recommend one, but still . . .
You can’t bend the page down to mark your place, or watch your bookmark (the same one you used for The Thornbirds and Unbroken and I Feel Bad About my Neck) move closer to the back of the book. You can use an electronic bookmark, but still . . .
You can’t highlight pithy phrases, or write the name of the real-life person a character resembles, or circle words you want to steal for your own writing. There is a kind of clunky feature that allows you to highlight electronically, but still . . .
With an e-reader, you miss that tactile pleasure of touching the paper—thick linen pages, slicksatiny pages, tissue-thin Bible pages—and leaving your invisible (or chocolatey visible) fingerprint on the page. You can smudge up an e-reader screen, but still , , ,
And a whiff of a device just isn’t the same as the ink, must, and dust perfume of an old library book.
My biggest objection is that electronic readers will leave so much space on bookshelves in homes, classrooms, and libraries. My Nook in its case has a width of half an inch. It takes up less space than a poetry book.
My official bookcase . . . but there are piles of books on every horizontal surface in my house
This is more than a furniture crisis; it is the death of an art form. What is more beautiful than multi-colored, multi-size books on a book shelf? Their arrangement on the shelf, whether by Dewey Decimal or size or color or date of acquisition, is a kind of performance art that is altered whenever a reader grabs one to read. The composition of this literary canvas invites—often compels—the reader to sample the offerings.
And without my bookshelves, how will you learn about me–my passions, my dreams, my history?
Quite often people mingle in the midst of library or store bookshelves and sample the contents in companionable, reverential silence. They engage in the sensuous act of feasting at the page, an orgy of words.
Sometimes these readers reach out to each other:
“This was amazing,” one says, showing the cover of City of Thieves.
“Have you read Goldfinch
? Overrated, right? Too damn long.”
“If you like Erik Larson, try Chris Bojalian.”
Early in the literary landscape of mankind, people used books to promote conversation and navigate relationships. Libraries were the first social networks—way before Facebook and Twitter. How will reading change if we don’t have to go anywhere to buy, borrow, or lend books? When we can’t go into our libraries to love our books?
I have a few friends who loathe using e-mail, Facebook, and text to communicate. They say we should call people on the phone. I guess it’s funny that I don’t feel I lost that much when I shifted most of my distant communication to the computer.
But losing books seems positively tragic to me. I don’t think I could bear the day when the shelves are empty.
Admittedly, my Nook is a wonderful option for traveling. I know people can read just as well on a little electronic devises, and they can buy books without ever leaving their easy chairs, but still . . .
SOME FUNNY LINKS FOR BIBLIOPHILES
Hilarious Video about this Newfangled Invention, the BOOK
A Medieval Help Desk for the Novice Book Reader
A Video That’s a Feast for Your Reading Eyes
How about wearing the text of a book on a t-shirt? Or how about a literary tattoo?
Totally with you on this one! I love my books. I have purged them and I do clean out my shelves for new books of course, but I won’t use an e-reader. Not this gal!
You make a strong argement for books, Sandy! And I LOVE your bookshelves and mine!
I love books as well. Nothing like a good read ~ or a book on your chest. Kindle/Nooks just aren’t comforting to hold, smell , look at as a good old book! Thanks for your slice of life!
I want little people to love books so they will love them all their lives. There is nothing quite like loving a book. I want to send your message into space for all to know so everyone will treasure the pages and the book jackets, and the weight and the texture of reading, and then most of all the story each book tells.
Collecting and enjoying the actual book is like a piece of art – you cherish it and go back to it….e editions are not so!!!
I have many bookshelves filled with books I use for research, books I read for pleasure, and books I go back to again and again. But the special shelves contain books signed by my favorite authors. Try that with an e-reader.
With your usual clarity of purpose you have made the case for all of us who love the printed and bound book, which has the distinct advantage in this digital age of never needing a charger.
I love the feel of a book but find the print on my iPad to be easier to read. I spent 8 years living in France and it took that long for me to transfer all my books there. I would load suitcases (back in the days when you were allowed two suitcases for free and they weren’t strict on weight). I sent bags of books from Dayton, OH to France using book rate. Once ALL of my books made the journey over the pond, I decided I could no longer live there. That I had to come home. So I did, and all my books were donated to and delivered to the garage of a British woman. I wonder how they are doing? I must say, I don’t miss them. I travel lighter now.
I still have the children’s books that each grade level gave to me at my baby shower at Dulles before Matthew was born. I now have many nieces and nephews having babies. It is wonderful to again be exploring the children’s sections of book stores. An ebook version of “The Giving Tree” or “Love You Forever” will not do. A little one on my lap and a book on that child’s lap is something I miss. P.S Thanks, Sandy, for suggesting the book idea for the shower!
Oh, and aren’t we lucky to live in a city that has such a marvelous public library system. My favorite voicemail these days is “You have items on hold at the Groesbeck Branch Public Library.”
I would get 20-30 children’s books at a time from the library every two weeks. I chose books from different cultures, topics and especially those with wonderful illustrations. Both my daughters are voracious readers as are my husband and myself. there is never enough time to read the printed word “on a page” that can be turned or dog-eared to save my stop. I’ll often have 2-3 different books going at the same time, underlining many (of my own) – a turn of phrase or something I want to remember.The only advantage I see for my purchasing a nook is saving space in a suitcase.
I love the way your brain never stops! I am married to one of those people…..so I have a good idea that you can never shut down those thoughts!
Everything you see, say, handle and do can merit an idea!
You really got it right with your Nook! I don’t own one and I never will…..I can’t even read on the computer screen very well. I even have to print out your blog enteries. So what about those people like me who can’t read from a Kindle or Nook or computer screen?( That’s why I don’t spend a lot of time on FB either) Well, I guess it doesn’t matter because they will never stop printing books. To me they are like any other art treasure, they become part of us and our environment!
We have 5 large bookcases filled…..and a clothes closet with the shelves filled with books.
The only books that I am glad to be rid of are the Encyclopedias…on-line is so much better and faster!
A parting thought……Could you think of Jane Pittman without a book!!!
I never would have predicted this, but I have become a hybrid! I love reading on my IPad. I love the backlit page, since my old eyes hare having a difficult time even with readers. The extra light makes all of the difference!
That said, I reserve purchasing “old-fashioned” books for those special books that I know I will savor. The author-signed book is an excellent example of this, but also those with beautiful cover art. I love the smell of the pages, as well as the texture.
I will be happy if our world remains a hybrid of both electronic and paper.