An interesting piece at The Millions talks about the future of books, and the reasons they may survive.
“Of course the book will endure. You’ve likely heard a million people rhapsodize about the alluring physicality of books. They’re correct to do so. You’ve also likely heard the news that independent bookstores are making a comeback. This is also as it should be. As an empirical matter, reading on a tablet cannot remotely approach the sensual literary experience offered by an old-fashioned book. The latter is intrinsically more pleasurable than the former, not unlike the intrinsic difference between high quality toilet paper and the sandpaper stuff used in bus stations.”
One reason, the writer James McWilliams suggests, is that books have decorative and social value in demonstrating the tastes and interests of the person who displays or carries them. True enough, but we’d prefer they stick around for much better, more thoughtful reasons than that.
What do you think? The region lost one its independent bookstores just this month. Email me at rrollins@coxohio.com.
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