Thursday, June 30, 2011

Another reason we need books part 2

One of the main reasons I like to go on vacation is to get away from the phone, tv, computer, internet etc. In this digital age it's nice to really unplug, not just from my blog but from all of it.

On my last post, I put up a link to an article that I found really interesting. I don't blame you if you didn't read it, because it was long and frankly when I'm reading blogs I don't often click on links that I'm not extremely interested in.

Basically what the author of the article was saying was that books are becoming one of the few things left that allow our minds to be free of all the noise that surrounds us.

It's hard to admit, but we all sense it: it is becoming almost physically harder to read books.

I think most of us have this sense today, if we are honest. If you read a book with your laptop thrumming at the other side of the room, it can feel like trying to read with a heavy metal band shrieking in front of you. To read, you need to slow down. You need mental silence except for the words. That's getting harder to find.

I know for myself I go through spurts. I can read five books in a month or not read anything for five months, but I also know that I rarely regret opening up the pages of a book, but there are lots of times I regret how much time I spend on my computer.

Here are some of my other favorite quotes from the article:

And here's the function that the book -- the paper book that doesn't beep or flash or link or let you watch a thousand videos all at once -- does for you that nothing else will. It gives you the capacity for deep, linear concentration.

An e-book reader that does a lot will not, in the end, be a book.

T.S. Eliot called books "the still point of the turning world." He was right. It turns out, in the age of super-speed broadband we need dead trees to have living minds.


Since tomorrow is Canada Day up here in the Great White (Green now) North and Monday is the 4th of July down there, I'll catch up with you guys on Tuesday. Hope everyone has a great long weekend wherever you are.

7 comments:

Connie Arnold said...

That's the good thing about a real book, it doesn't beep or flash or any of those other things. If you can get away from all the distractions, there's nothing like immersing yourself in a great book!

Robyn Campbell said...

Books! Real books! The touch, the smell, the crispness of the page. Ahhhhhhh... And NO beeping. Yeah!

Great post. Happy Canada Day, pal. Have a safe and wonderful long weekend. :-)

Beth said...

Great post.
bethfred.com

Anonymous said...

"We need dead trees to have a living mind." I love that. I do like my e-reader so I don't have to decide on how many books I can physically carry when I travel, however my 'real' books are still very important me, and I do continue to purchase them.

Unknown said...

"To read you need to slow down" God, I love that. The slowing down. ;)
And I loved the tree thing, too, like Lynn... A great post!
Have a nice weekend, too :D

ali cross said...

I love that last quote! And I agree--I think I treasure boys all the more now because of the release from all the TECH they give me. (even tho i often read on a Kindle, lol)

Happy belated Canada Day! My boys and I celebrated by wearing our Canada T's and high fiving some other Canadians we met at a local parade!

Felicity Grace Terry said...

I know just what you mean about it becoming harder to read books. I'm one of those who likes quiet in which to fully enjoy a book -unlike my husband who will happily read with music/the tv playing in the background - perhaps this being the reason I get most of my reading done in the wee small hours.

A great post, thanks for your thoughts on this matter.