To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve picked up a book. When I got my iPad I was surprised at how quickly I traded books in for eBooks as I’ve always been a proponent of the “Nothing can replace holding a physical book in your hands” mentality.
However after a few eBooks read on the iPad, I kind of seemed to lose interest in reading anything at all, which was unusual for me. Do eBooks devalue the appreciation behind reading somehow?
This past weekend I spent a couple of hours at Borders in the city as I had free time between that morning’s errand at the Apple store and meeting my friend Ellen that afternoon. I picked up a book, bought a coffee from the in-store Gloria Jeans, and started reading. When I finished my coffee I moved to the lower ground floor, where armchairs were scattered between shelves of books. It’s like the urge to read gripped me once more! This felt different to reading on my iPad. Reading an ebook, for me, is just something you do. The book may be excellent and I certainly get through books quicker when I read them as eBooks – but holding this physical book in my hands wasn’t just about getting through the text or finding out the story; it was an entire experience.
It very much helped that the book itself sucked me in from the very first page (The Passage by Justin Cronin, which I’ll write a review of when I finish). When it was time to go I purchased the book and now all I can think about is reading more and more of it.
Now that I think back on it I’m reminded of the scene I read in The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (translated by Ralph Manheim) years ago, one of the most memorable things I’ve ever read that left a lasting impression on me through the years – the scene of boy making a nook for himself in his school’s attic and hiding out there through the day and night as it rained outside, reading this book. He was immersed in his own world – adventuring through Fantastica, fighting glorious battles, and meeting fantastic creatures. The outside world and the ordinary people in it were forgotten and disappeared as he went deeper and deeper into his adventure. I think the movie based on The Neverending Story book really depicted this scene beautifully and recreated that same feeling that I got from the book. Then again this was years ago, so my mind’s probably embelished the scene. When I read a book, I always dream about having that kind of experience – holed up somewhere quiet, or curled up in a corner near a window in a cozy armchair with a quilt or blanket keeping me warm, just reading for days on end. Unfortunately I don’t think anything will be able to match the awesome impression that the scene in The Neverending Story made on me, but I compare everything to it.
