I love the feel of thick cotton paper between my fingers, the ruffle sound and the smell as I turn the page of my current paper back. The way the pages of the book fill my sight line as they spread out in front of me. The weight, is reassuring, I know I am reading and not simply looking at a screen. The weathering of the cover as I explore the characters, concepts and theories described between two softening covers fills me with excitement.
This is how I would describe the experience of reading a paper back. To this day, despite trying Kindles and Tablets, I still dont get the same feeling of excitement and immersion I get from reading on a tablet that I get from reading a book. Even when reading for my Masters, I find it easier to read and remember journal articles when I physically hold them in my hands. On paper. The smudges of the notes in the columns, the small of highlighter and the ruffle of the pages. There is something, I dont know, grown up, something for all the senses (sound, touch, scent, sight) when reading a book. I guess in 5 – 10 years, that grown up feeling will go as more people use Tablets a lot more.
I think its a shame though, I think books can colour a house as well as a mind. Book cases, coffee tables, floor stacks and in some cases libraries decorate a house, the colourful and ornate covers become a focal point for visitors. I am drawn to book cases when I enter a new house because A) I am nosey and B) to see if I can pull inspiration from the creased spines. At university, my house mate and I would often visit each others rooms to borrow a book.
There is also nothing like being given a book previously read by a friend. They bring it round, place it in your hands and say “I loved this book, I know you will” or it may be “this book changed me and I want you to read it” it shows they think of you that they care. Once read, its a shared experience, something that binds you closer together. Something special, something that will inform conversations for years to come, when you’re trying to explain something abstract you will refer to a section from that book you read.
Although you can buy a new book for a friend on a kindle, can you share it, can you hand it over with a message of love and can you make someone feel truley special by showing them you were thinking of them?
For all these reasons, the sense filling physicality, the hidden messages between friends, and the colour of books, I love paper back books. They win every time in this match up.
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