While I cannot deny that the availability and most likely the price of books will be much easier to deal with thanks to e-readers, my sentimentality ultimately is the dominant force behind my opinions. There is nothing I love more than walking through old libraries, used bookstores, running my fingers along old, musty spines, picking up the odd book and enjoying investigating what a previous reader has underlined, commented on or otherwise marked. One of my favorite books is one which I bought used, and the pleasure of reading it (it was Diary by Chuck Palahniuk) was magnified by the random underlinings and scribblings of its previous owner. I felt connected to this person because I think you can tell a lot about someone just based on simple things like what they thought worth underlining. It lets you know what ideas meant something, connected with this person. Experiences like that are so valuable to me.
Perhaps I will be the biggest Luddite in this group. I find myself opposing certain forms of technology at every turn. It's a miracle, quite frankly, that I have figured out how to work blogger, I don't understand half the functions of my computer, and my cell phones have a high mortality rate. I love books. I love owning them. Love smelling them. Love feeling the way the pages fray over time, the way you can tell which ones are loved best. I love being able to share them with people, being able to share that little piece of who I am (because I have very specific and intimate memories and feelings associated with all my books, I feel that they've helped me become who I am). The very thought of replacing my carefully collected and deeply adored books with some machine horrifies me. I realize that e-readers make so many things possible that we never thought of before...but I just can't get on board with it completely.
The points made below by Sarah Jordan about technology tending towards human-like qualities is possibly what horrifies me the most. Whether we are becoming more like technology or technology is becoming more like us feels like a very fine, very petty distinction to me. Either way, the lines of separation are getting smaller and smaller. I won't deny that technology has done great things for us medically and scientifically, I just think we should stop while we're ahead. The day I am asked to replace my books with an e-reader is the day I give up on society. My mother has never realized it, but I'm serious when I say that the only things I'm going to save or worry about in the event of a fire are my books. I don't think I could say the same thing about an e-reader.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree completely. I have the rather unfortunate habit of dropping my cellphone on an hourly basis, and although I check for any broken pieces, my thorough check is not necessarily because I'm worried that I'll lose my cell phone and therefore my connection to the world, but more because I don't have the money to buy a new one. My relationship with books, however, is another matter entirely: I hate bending the covers or writing on the pages, and when I go to a bookstore, I inspect the stacks of books for the most pristine one of the bunch. I also fear that if I had an e-reader I would not give it the care that I give to my books; it's expensive, yes, but I have to say that my books mean more to me than technology most of the time.
ReplyDelete"...but I have to say that my books mean more to me than technology most of the time"
ReplyDeleteBut thats not the e-readers problem. Neither is it the books' problem that you love them. (As Zizek says, love is a horrible thing ; ) )
Loving one or disliking the other is irrelevant. I think its more important to explore the why's of our nostalgias rather than celebrating them. If you want clean pristine books, wouldn't you enjoy a kindle since it offers you a flawless slate?
I agree with Sarah Jordan, but this brings up an interesting dilemma... what if one was to lose their kindle? I would suffer minor heart attacks if my entire book collection was wiped out in one fell swoop. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I think it's necessary to have a way to back up purchased books, so that in case of such a circumstance you wouldn't have to start all over again.
Oh true, that would suckkkk
ReplyDelete@Terra: I think it might work like an ipod. You'd have all of the books stored on your computer, and, if you're smart, backed up with some service akin to googledocs which will spring up for that purpose. Barring some global catastrophe which completely wipes out the internet, your files will be much much safer in Google's hands than they would be at home on your shelves. I'm still bitter about losing my beautiful illustrated copy of The Once and Future King during Katrina.
ReplyDeleteReturning to Keaton's point: I'd be interested to hear why you're so fascinated by science fiction if you truly believe we should "stop while we're ahead". I took this as sweeping commentary about technology as a whole; correct me if I'm wrong. Where we are is not and has never been sustainable. Without new technology we are going to run out of oil and our infrastructure will crumble. We have to either move forward or backward or die. I'd want to move forward, for the sake of novelty if nothing else.
That being said, I think the great trick is to move forward at an ever-accelerating pace while simultaneously protecting and cherishing those parts of the past which are worth cherishing. Leather-bound illustrated dusty old books are beautiful, and it's our duty to posterity to carry forward the beautiful, useful, or otherwise desirable, in one capacity or another. Which is why we have luddites-- they're the only reason Notre Dame is still standing, after all.
Terra: My aunt has a kindle, and if any of the other e-readers are the same way, you'll be able to back up your books online. Even if you lose or break it, you'll be able to re-download all the books you have for free.
ReplyDeleteJust think, in a fire you could save all your books--if they were on a nook.
ReplyDelete