What is a book?

A book is a concrete form of literature – or at least should be. Our modern-day society wants to acquire more and more with more convenience. For example say, the kindle? But the reality of the matter is if we surround ourselves with digital this and digital that, then we aren’t being surrounded by anything at all. We aren’t just data on a computer, we are human beings. So we should be surrounding ourselves with concrete, physical objects instead of codes being emitted from computer systems. A book has a cover, a back, pages in between, and stories imprinted onto all three. With a nook you can’t flip through the pages, you can’t highlight or write on top, you can’t rip it up if you hate it, and you can’t display it on your bookshelf if you love it. Then, what happens if a database crashes or your kindles get a virus? Will our vast selection of books disappear into thin air – maybe as if they weren’t even there to begin with? Does this ring a bell? Well, that’s what I’m getting at. A book is not just a concept, idea, or train of thought. A book is something you have, own, lend, and borrow -- physically hold.

The evolution of acquiring a book has gone from going to libraries/book stores, ordering off amazon, to purchasing off amazon. First we cut the journey from the comfort of our home to the bookstore, then even the wait for the book to come in the mail. Everybody talks about how it’s not the destination that matters, but the journey right? Then why are we carving ourselves shortcuts through society? The effort it takes to get a book has been reduced, so the appreciation of the book has been lost. This is a very sad occurrence. The mass production of books has even stopped. Literature is being handed out like digital candy and just as easily being thrown away. If this process continues, I fear that books will become faceless entities of the past.