Field notes, 08 May 2014. Alone, expectant, waiting. For what?
Where resides the heart and soul of a book? Not the story inside it, perhaps, but the thing in itself. I cannot imagine the devoted reader that I am, cozying up to an ebook or tablet.
There is no life in the machine.
Digital pages do not rasp under the fingers, nor does the light reflect from them with any warmth. Silicon, glass and aluminum react to the fingertips and the blood running through them. But that blood does not carry logos on its way back to the heart. Ultimately, electronic readers seem not tactile enough to satisfy me.
Wind outside. There is no music or television chatter, so the rustling of leaves I hear through the walls. My mind loses its place. The book is replaced by the voice of Marcus Aurelius, speaking softly in the temple of my head.
"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one."The book I set on the nightstand before it slips from my fingers. The wind stirs the trees again, sounding for all the world like a dead emperor whispering from the yard. I roll over, turn out the light, hoping to dream of that good man to be.
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Perhaps you're standing too close to the mirror and can't see a good man when he's staring right back at you...
ReplyDeleteThat may very well be. I should step back and take stock :)
DeleteThat is the way I felt about books vs Kindle or whatever .. then we moved to Argentina and my choices were be able to read Spanish very well or get a Kindle.
ReplyDeleteI like the Kindle. I love books and all the things that make them treasures but I won't starve myself of reading, just because of the form it comes in.
besos. C
This so reminds me of my daughter, the girl that is always holding a book, or having one playing throughout her room, and would need at least 14 "Two Men and a Truck" to move her collection of genuine books, has also, ever gripping, discovered there is much to offer from her Kindle Fire as well! Moral of this story- my daughter was born to make writers everywhere happy authors!
ReplyDeleteSalute to your daughter! :)
DeleteI am the lone survivor, clinging to the book while the waves short circuit everyone around me......
ReplyDeletebut it appears I might have company..........
i think the hardest part about getting older is the loss of my vision. even with the old lady glasses on, my eyes tire quickly after hours of working on the screen, and the few minutes i have to read are not enough...not for this girl who quite literally has, quite literally, 18 BOXES of books....:-) I used to walk out of the library with books stacked up to my chin, my arms stretched all the way down....I MISS those days
ReplyDelete