World Book Day
“Outside of a dog, man's best friend is a book; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read” Groucho Marx
It is World Book Day... hurrah! I love the fact we have a day to celebrate books because Groucho is right, books are my best friend.
For me, a book's function is not just to be informative or tell a story, they are mood changers. A book can comfort me when I'm feeling sad; I simply reach for an old favourite and it's like being hugged by the beautifully familiar words. Books make me laugh, they make me think, they make me wonder, they fill my heart with love and romance and they keep me up at night with gory, spine tingling murders. They make me look up gloriously mysterious words like: Fugacious, Lagniappe, Petrichor or Susurrous. When I finish a particularly wonderful book, it's not unusual for me to clutch it to my chest, thanking it for making my life richer.
Books can make you draw with your mind, they allow you to cast your own actors, design your own dream house, explore the world. We become so upset when our actors are miscast by Hollywood directors, their landscapes pale to our imagination. In fact, books are so powerful that for only a few pounds, they can make our universe infinite.To be able to read is the cheapest gift in the world.
In Britain at the moment there is a government initiative to encourage literacy, to get everyone reading. They are encouraging parents to read to their children, even for a few minutes a day. Imagine for a second, you cannot read; it would be, I presume, like looking at ancient Greek or Hieroglyphics... a series of lines and shapes that look lovely but have no meaning. I think we sometimes take it for granted how much we look, glance and read in everyday life, from tube stops to newspapers, from Google to e-books.
There, I've said it. I'm sure a few of you were wondering when my nemesis would rear its ugly head. And it really is UGLY. I think if a Kindle encourages people to read then that's fabulous but for me, celebrating World Book Day is about the physical; the beautiful paper, the font, the cover, things that are designed and thought about for months before the book is on the shelf. Who hasn't picked up a book because of the design on the front? If everyone begins to read e-books, what will happen to the Publishing house art departments? The typographers, graphic designers, illustrators, photographers and let's not forget the writers. A writer sits for hours a day, weeks and months and years go by and then their masterpiece is simply downloaded for 99p.
Imagine a few years from now, people's bookshelves empty apart from a dull grey tablet staring back at them? It sounds horribly Orwellian doesn't it? People tell me it's small and lightweight but you still can't put it in your pocket, you have to carry it in a hand bag or a briefcase... just like a book! I've heard the argument that you can fit 3,500 books on a Kindle but seriously, how many books can you read at any one time? And yes, the price is much cheaper but I find paying a little more for something that will sit proudly and beautifully on my windowsill forever, worth it. If I don't want to keep it, then I give it to charity, therefore someone else can enjoy it. Who can you share you e-book with? Can you lend a novel on an e-book to a friend? Can you buy someone a gift of an e-book novel? Take the two following scenarios:
A. Normal book giving scenario.
A few years ago, a friend gave me a beautifully wrapped book for my birthday. The book was: This Book will Change your Life by A N Wilson (it's not a self help book by the way, although I got a few sympathetic looks on the tube). The book was brilliant and i loved it so much I bought 3 more copies and gave them to other friends as presents. By giving them to my friends, we shared a bit of joy. I lend my favourite books out all the time. My mother and I have our own book club, swapping and sharing books all the time. It's a lovely thing to do.
B. E-book giving scenario.
Yesterday, a friend told me about a really good book she had just finished reading on her Kindle. That's it. End of scenario.
And just a few other questions for those kindlers....
Can you read an e-book in a hot steaming bath?
Can you spill wine, sun tan lotion or spaghetti sauce on it?
Can you drop it from a top floor balcony or accidentally run over it in your car?
Can you cry whilst reading it and see your tear stained pages in years to come?
Can you write an important number on an e-book page?
Can you read a Kindle in low light without having to buy one of those ridiculous, bendy torch attachments?
I could go on but I'm boring myself now. I think you might have realised that I am in no hurry to buy one. For now I'm going to celebrate with wild abandon... this glorious World Book Day with a good old fashioned book, with a printed cover, pages made of paper, type made from ink and I will turn the pages with my hand. Amazing.
It is World Book Day... hurrah! I love the fact we have a day to celebrate books because Groucho is right, books are my best friend.
For me, a book's function is not just to be informative or tell a story, they are mood changers. A book can comfort me when I'm feeling sad; I simply reach for an old favourite and it's like being hugged by the beautifully familiar words. Books make me laugh, they make me think, they make me wonder, they fill my heart with love and romance and they keep me up at night with gory, spine tingling murders. They make me look up gloriously mysterious words like: Fugacious, Lagniappe, Petrichor or Susurrous. When I finish a particularly wonderful book, it's not unusual for me to clutch it to my chest, thanking it for making my life richer.
Books can make you draw with your mind, they allow you to cast your own actors, design your own dream house, explore the world. We become so upset when our actors are miscast by Hollywood directors, their landscapes pale to our imagination. In fact, books are so powerful that for only a few pounds, they can make our universe infinite.To be able to read is the cheapest gift in the world.
In Britain at the moment there is a government initiative to encourage literacy, to get everyone reading. They are encouraging parents to read to their children, even for a few minutes a day. Imagine for a second, you cannot read; it would be, I presume, like looking at ancient Greek or Hieroglyphics... a series of lines and shapes that look lovely but have no meaning. I think we sometimes take it for granted how much we look, glance and read in everyday life, from tube stops to newspapers, from Google to e-books.
There, I've said it. I'm sure a few of you were wondering when my nemesis would rear its ugly head. And it really is UGLY. I think if a Kindle encourages people to read then that's fabulous but for me, celebrating World Book Day is about the physical; the beautiful paper, the font, the cover, things that are designed and thought about for months before the book is on the shelf. Who hasn't picked up a book because of the design on the front? If everyone begins to read e-books, what will happen to the Publishing house art departments? The typographers, graphic designers, illustrators, photographers and let's not forget the writers. A writer sits for hours a day, weeks and months and years go by and then their masterpiece is simply downloaded for 99p.
Imagine a few years from now, people's bookshelves empty apart from a dull grey tablet staring back at them? It sounds horribly Orwellian doesn't it? People tell me it's small and lightweight but you still can't put it in your pocket, you have to carry it in a hand bag or a briefcase... just like a book! I've heard the argument that you can fit 3,500 books on a Kindle but seriously, how many books can you read at any one time? And yes, the price is much cheaper but I find paying a little more for something that will sit proudly and beautifully on my windowsill forever, worth it. If I don't want to keep it, then I give it to charity, therefore someone else can enjoy it. Who can you share you e-book with? Can you lend a novel on an e-book to a friend? Can you buy someone a gift of an e-book novel? Take the two following scenarios:
A. Normal book giving scenario.
A few years ago, a friend gave me a beautifully wrapped book for my birthday. The book was: This Book will Change your Life by A N Wilson (it's not a self help book by the way, although I got a few sympathetic looks on the tube). The book was brilliant and i loved it so much I bought 3 more copies and gave them to other friends as presents. By giving them to my friends, we shared a bit of joy. I lend my favourite books out all the time. My mother and I have our own book club, swapping and sharing books all the time. It's a lovely thing to do.
B. E-book giving scenario.
Yesterday, a friend told me about a really good book she had just finished reading on her Kindle. That's it. End of scenario.
And just a few other questions for those kindlers....
Can you read an e-book in a hot steaming bath?
Can you spill wine, sun tan lotion or spaghetti sauce on it?
Can you drop it from a top floor balcony or accidentally run over it in your car?
Can you cry whilst reading it and see your tear stained pages in years to come?
Can you write an important number on an e-book page?
Can you read a Kindle in low light without having to buy one of those ridiculous, bendy torch attachments?
I could go on but I'm boring myself now. I think you might have realised that I am in no hurry to buy one. For now I'm going to celebrate with wild abandon... this glorious World Book Day with a good old fashioned book, with a printed cover, pages made of paper, type made from ink and I will turn the pages with my hand. Amazing.
Comments
My flat is filled with real books, wall to wall; nothing gives me greater pleasure. If I had room for a proper library I would have one. But I wouldn't be without a Kindle now (and you can share books with other Kindles).
Happy World Book Day sweetie! xx
xxx
There is a school in Maine, USA - a private boarding school, where the headmaster has thrown out the library and they have NO books. It makes me want to weep. x