In Defense of Books

After serving us faithfully for centuries, books are being kicked to the curb in the face of new and seemingly more convenient technology. Don’t we owe them a little more than that? Those little codices that have safeguarded our identities, protected our past, and reminded us of our dreams, shouldn’t be so easily tossed aside. They are a part of who we are. The books on someone’s shelf reveal more about that person than the clothes they wear. Who hasn’t scrutinized a friend’s bookshelf? Who doesn’t turn towards the pile of magazines and paperbacks on someone’s coffee table to discover a little more about them? The books we keep are tangible objects that represent our personalities.

Photo by slightlyeverything via Flickr.com

They do their job well too, holding our thoughts despite our abuse. We drown them when we bring them to the pool, letting them soak beneath our lawn chairs. We use them as furniture to prop up TV’s, wobbly tables or a couch. We write in them, cross out, underline, highlight, tear, rip and dog-ear. They bear their scars boldly and in so doing they become a living thing. Every footnote and question mark we jot down becomes equally important as what was there to begin with. The notes that are written into the inside leaf when given as gifts are almost become more cherished than the story itself. The numbers we scrawl across the top of a page because we just didn’t have anything else to write on can be a bitter reminder or a sweet memory of a past relationship. Books are more than the sum of their text.

They never speak out against this injustice. They don’t resent us or hide their words despite being tossed under beds or locked in closets. They endure.

With the advent of the e-reader, books are being usurped as our primary textual supports. With the ability to hold thousands of stories, articles, essays, and biographies coupled with our insatiable need for convenience and expediency, books are becoming obsolete. This is a crime. Wouldn’t it be nice if books were rewarded for their centuries of hard work and service? I never saw an e-reader that could be left out in the sun, bent, drowned and written on and still function.

Cherish your books; show the next generation of readers that it’s not always about what’s the most convenient or fashionable. Let’s be captivated by our books again.