Sell Out or Buy In?
I’ve always been a bit of a ‘bookophile’. I’m not sure if that’s actually a word, but I’m sure you get my drift. I’m even married to a Chartered Librarian, although she wasn’t one when we met, and a more untypical librarian you could not meet. The point however, is that I like books.
These bits of ink, paper and card are not only recpticles of knowledge and culture, they open the world to inquisitive eyes and allow us to walk in the shoes of others, and appreciate the world through their eyes. An illustration of my take on this is that many years ago, an old work colleague told me that he couldn’t understand why people bought books, because they can be loaned from libraries, free of charge. I have to say that I was quite proud of my reply - at this time, I would have been a callow youth in my teenage years - I said, that the desire to own a book, was like the desire to own a thing of beauty. It couldn’t - or perhaps more correctly, shouldn’t - be reduced to a ‘cost/benefit’ analysis. It was merely a ‘benefit’ analysis. It was good for the soul.
As I sit and type this in our study, behind me are three bookcases, packed with the various tomes that we have accumulated over the years. Some are worn, dog-eared and ever-so-slightly tattered. Other people would maybe throw them out, but that would be like discarding an old friend. Somewhat heretical, both the wife and I would think. Very laudable, you say. So, what’s the “sell out”, you ask? Clearly you may not be asking that, but I’m going to assume that you are otherwise, I might as well stop here!
Well, a while ago, I bought my wife a kindle for her birthday. Her choice, not mine. What a sell out, thought I. Where’s the beauty in a bit of grey plastic with electronic ink. No said she, they’re just so much eaiser to carry about and hold to read. All the advantages of a book, but so much more portable, easy to replenish and comfortable to use, with variable font size - a boon to aging eyes. Hmmm, I thought.
Away on holiday not long after, I began to understand her drift. There’s me lugging half-a-dozen books about, whilst she’s there with this slim thing, no thicker than a medium-weight pamphlet. I’m juggling my Cuba Libre, whilst with the other hand in the typical reader’s ‘splayed hand’ pose, trying to turn pages single-handedly. She, merely raises the thumb by half-an-inch and clicks. OK, there’s a surprise, she was right, again. So, when my birthday rolled around, guess what I wanted. Yep, and I have to say that I really like the thing, and probably read more now than I did before. Ah, and there’s the rub.
I discovered that having a kindle isn’t a “sell out”, it allows more people to “buy in” to the world of books, and the people that were already captivated by these works of art, can indulge themselves further. If they encourage more people to read, there’s only applause from me. If they make the books more accessible, that’s got to be good. So, am I now going to throw out all those old books? No, of course not. There’s no either/or dicotemy between books and kindles. A book is still a work of art and a thing to treasure. Indeed, one of our Christmas presents for a dear friend is a beautiful copy of a book that he will have already read a number of times, and know the story so well, but the tactile tangibility adds to the lustre of it all. I’m sure he’ll concur - at least I hope so.
So if books are old friends, kindles can be our new ones, and one doesn’t supplant, but merely compliments the other. Over the holidays, we’re off on a sojourn and of course the kindle will be coming with me, but so will a book or two. All friends together.
God bless you. What a great post.
