. . . . is because they carry a world of history into the present. They act as a living bookmark, a reminder of who you were, where you were, and what was happening in your life when you read THAT particular book.
Books are literally touched along the pages of time, passing through untold hands, homes, and hearts — and under the paws of unscrupulous felines. They are the living embodiment of shared experience and community, a creation wholly, uniquely and intensely human. While I respect and appreciate the tool that is the e-reader, for this reader, nothing will ever replace a real book.
Photograph courtesy Emir O. Filipovic for National Geographic
Persephone Writes 
I loved reading this and I definitely agree with everything you say.
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Thanks, Cassie! 🙂
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Hi Angela, yes, I know just what you mean, there is nothing like a ‘real’ book. I do find my kindle invaluable though and it has helped me be able to read more – which has to be a good thing! I love my books, though, couldn’t be without them. I know I will never read all that I have but I keep buying anyway because I don’t just love what is inside, but the objects themselves. Take care and thinking of you 🙂
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Thanks for such a lovely comment, Ruth. 🙂
I don’t have an e-reader, but I do appreciate the ease with which they allow people to read more, especially when travelling. My mom and dad used to pack 5 books apiece when they went on vacation — adds quite a load! Now with their e-readers they travel lighter. But books carry much more with them than the story between their pages, as you so beautifully point out. And they can be handed on…one thing is for certain — e-books will never become family treasures and heirlooms.
Hoping to write back to you in the next couple of days…..
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Looking forward to it already! (but only when you can… 🙂 :-))
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I agree. Printed books have a contagious magic that I can still feel when I pick them up years later. I can’t imagine the same feeling picking up an old Kindle.
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Well put, Michelle! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by and for following my blog. I’m looking forward to visiting and exploring yours.
Cheers!
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I just had this conversation with a guy I work with! He couldn’t understand WHY I would lug around an actually book.. he seemed genuinely befuddled by it actually, haha. I’m like you! I love actually holding the book.. especially if it’s an old book. For my birthday while ago, my father gave me a first edition of a collection of Langston Hughes poetry that he used to carry around and read when he was younger. Just having that connection to him through this little book made it so much more special to read.
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That is wonderful about being gifted with your father’s book. So special. No one can hand down their Kindle or e-books…..real books are like a photograph and you carry the person and all the memories with you in carrying the book. I love that. I have my mom’s copy of Little Women and it is a treasure to me. The modern consciousness might look with disdain at the burden of carrying a real book, but it is a blessed burden, because we carry so much else besides. We carry history and meaning and relationship. It is an honor and a privilege. 🙂
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