The fetishization of books
Earlier today on Tumblr I came across the following graphic.
And it loosed a great rant that has been building within me for awhile.
“Compatible with all hands/eyes?” Are they kidding? Ask someone with rheumatoid arthritis in both hands how easy it is to hold a 900-page volume. Ask someone with aging, tired eyes how easy it is to read the type. Then ask them how much easier it is to read a book on a lightweight e-reader, where they can adjust the type size to however large they’d like it. I myself have neither of the above problems, but reading a Kindle in bed is sure as hell easier than reading a giant doorstoppy novel of the sort that I love. Shit, I just like being able to read while holding my book in ONE HAND, so I can drink my coffee or suck on a goddamned lollipop with the other. An e-reader is MORE compatible with everyone’s physical ability to read, not less.
I am so sick of the book-snobbery that makes it cool to dump on e-readers. ”Why not just read a book?” I AM READING A BOOK. A paper book is not more inherently good or worthwhile than an e-book just because it’s…wait, what is the rationalization behind it being superior? Oh, that’s right, because it’s traditional. It’s old-fashioned. Yes, those are always the best arbiters of worth.
Physical books do have advantages, the chief among them being the hassle-free ability to loan them around. But there is a weird trend of book-fetishization going on that I don’t understand. ”But I love books!” I hear people say. Look, you’d go a long way before you met someone who loved books more than I do. But it isn’t the paper and the bindings and the ink that I love. It is the words and the information and the stories and the writing. These things are just as valuable no matter the vehicle used to deliver them to my brain.
Sometimes I think that people who decry e-readers are the sort who care less about reading books and more about having books. They like big bookshelves filled with volumes so everyone can see how well-read and intelligent they are. Hey, I have bookshelves filled with books, too. My current policy is that if I read an ebook that I really love, I buy it in hardcover, so I can have a physical library only of books I love. But I wonder if that isn’t the impetus behind some people’s horror of e-books. They don’t look impressive on your bookshelf.
This has been a ranty post from a woman who loves her Kindle.
And it loosed a great rant that has been building within me for awhile.
“Compatible with all hands/eyes?” Are they kidding? Ask someone with rheumatoid arthritis in both hands how easy it is to hold a 900-page volume. Ask someone with aging, tired eyes how easy it is to read the type. Then ask them how much easier it is to read a book on a lightweight e-reader, where they can adjust the type size to however large they’d like it. I myself have neither of the above problems, but reading a Kindle in bed is sure as hell easier than reading a giant doorstoppy novel of the sort that I love. Shit, I just like being able to read while holding my book in ONE HAND, so I can drink my coffee or suck on a goddamned lollipop with the other. An e-reader is MORE compatible with everyone’s physical ability to read, not less.
I am so sick of the book-snobbery that makes it cool to dump on e-readers. ”Why not just read a book?” I AM READING A BOOK. A paper book is not more inherently good or worthwhile than an e-book just because it’s…wait, what is the rationalization behind it being superior? Oh, that’s right, because it’s traditional. It’s old-fashioned. Yes, those are always the best arbiters of worth.
Physical books do have advantages, the chief among them being the hassle-free ability to loan them around. But there is a weird trend of book-fetishization going on that I don’t understand. ”But I love books!” I hear people say. Look, you’d go a long way before you met someone who loved books more than I do. But it isn’t the paper and the bindings and the ink that I love. It is the words and the information and the stories and the writing. These things are just as valuable no matter the vehicle used to deliver them to my brain.
Sometimes I think that people who decry e-readers are the sort who care less about reading books and more about having books. They like big bookshelves filled with volumes so everyone can see how well-read and intelligent they are. Hey, I have bookshelves filled with books, too. My current policy is that if I read an ebook that I really love, I buy it in hardcover, so I can have a physical library only of books I love. But I wonder if that isn’t the impetus behind some people’s horror of e-books. They don’t look impressive on your bookshelf.
This has been a ranty post from a woman who loves her Kindle.