In Defense of Books…
I love books. I know that I’ve said that before, but if you come to my home, you will see them in almost every room. I have a wide variety of genres too: classics, instructional books, cookbooks … I use books for entertainment, escapism, and to decorate my home.
I was in a professional meeting last month wherein we discussed whether students nowadays prefer digital books to hard copies. All the individuals in the group agreed that most students would prefer to have schoolbooks on their iPads and, let’s not forget, it’s green, too! Well, I am all for greener living, but I must protest!
It upsets me to untold volumes (no pun intended) to think that future generations won’t experience libraries in the same way that I did, or that bound books as learning tools in education will be phased out. Newspapers are already experiencing this death-by-innovation.
Traditional books are so much more than mere information, they are historical, and they have personality — you can’t thumb through worn, crinkly pages, smell the binding, read the notes in the margins, and see a heartfelt inscription on the glowing screen of a tablet reader. All I get from sitting down with a novel on a tablet reader, is a migraine.
I know, I sound harsh, but surely I’m not the only bibliophile who groans inwardly at a Kindle commercial? What are your thoughts?
Getting off my soapbox now…
For Further Reading:
A few posts that I’ve done in the past few months that highlight books (and what you can do with them) in some way ~
◊ Adding Interest to Paper…With Tea!
◊ Gift-oku
◊ Madame Verte Goes to Collage College
I AGREE, I AGREE, I AGREE!!!! Vintage book shopping, art book collecting, and going to the library are some of my favorite pastimes. I love the weight of books, the cover illustrations… in fact, my dream is to have a room filled floor to ceiling with books, a comfy chair, a side table and a good lamp. I believe a reinstatement of the Luddite movement is in order ;}. Who’s with me???
In my dream, said room also has a small, charming fireplace
Oh–and not to mention I use vintage books as the inspiration and crux of my artwork!!