For the Holiday Season, Give Me Real Books
By Diane Girard
Once upon a time when I was a child of six, back in the Dark Age before the invention of the computer, the Internet, and the electronic book; I received my first real book for Christmas. A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. I still recall my joy when I opened and caressed its pages, my delight in the rhyming words and the pop-up illustrations, and the sensual allure of the new-book fragrance. I carried that book with me everywhere. It was my only treasure. When I was confined to bed due to an illness, I read it over and over again sometimes at night, under the covers using a flashlight. I was enchanted.
After a while, the book's pages became dog-eared, some bore traces of peanut butter and once, the book landed in a puddle. When it had dried, the pop-ups wouldn’t pop anymore, but the words and pictures were still there. The book didn’t require a memory chip or batteries. It was elegantly complete within two covers.Now I hear that the electronic book (the eBook) could completely replace the printed book. Well, I must protest. Actually, protesting might very well become my next career and objecting to the possible disappearance of the real book ranks very high on my list. If I receive a device that enables me to read eBooks, I would not return it, but I would be disappointed.
An eBook just isn’t much fun. Where’s the tactile thrill in holding a plastic object or in fiddling with a screen? For me, only one plastic object could fit into the thrill category and it’s not a book of any kind. But, as Gilda Radner was wont to say “never mind,” this is about books, real books.
A well-made real book can live on for ages. For instance, The Book of Kells has survived. It's an illuminated manuscript created by Irish monks in approximately 800 AD. I expect my favourite books will outlive me and be given to the next generation for their enjoyment. And, even on that mournful occasion when a real book reaches the end of what may have been a very long life, it can be recycled and perhaps become part of another book.
Like real friends, real books are tolerant. They will stand by you and forgive minor sins. I try to take good care of my books and my friends too, but occasionally I err. Who among us has not? If I drop a book onto a concrete floor, it does not break into pieces. If by accident I slop a little of my early morning coffee on the page I’m reading, a paper towel will absorb the liquid and the page will dry, eventually. On the other hand, an electronic book might not be as forgiving. Coffee could kill it. Then I’d have gift guilt.
And, while I’m sure there are many very worthy electronic books and many books printed in traditional style that may not be worth reading. I will continue to buy traditional books. I’ll buy them in order to support small press publishers who print some of the best fiction. I’ll buy them because they comfort me or confront me and take me to places I’ve never seen in real life. I’ll buy them because each one has a unique presence, whether humble or exalted.
And, I’ll buy them because I want them to be around when I have great grand-children. I want to cuddle with a child in an armchair beside the Christmas tree, and go joyfully into the world inside the pages of a real book.
What better present could there be.
©2010 Diane Girard for SeniorWomen.com
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