At a recent event, I was lucky enough to hear a reading from Audrey Niffenegger – author of The Time Traveler’s Wife.
She read a short story – written in response to the closure of a bookshop that she really loves…
In this story – she suggested that heaven is a great library – and when a bookshop closes, its soul goes to heaven to reside in that library. So too do the souls of books. And of bookshop owners.
The reading was great – she is as good a performer as she is a writer. And the story was funny and poignant and so very appropriate.
Like Audrey, I love bookshops. There’s something magical about a space devoted to books… to words and learning and imagination. I’m always sad when I see a bookshop close.
On her website, Audrey says she is not in favor of e-books. She is also an artist and a book conservator (I didn’t know that) and she fears that e-books will sound the death of the arts she loves. I understand that… and in some ways I agree. But at the same time, e-books can make books more available to more readers. Kids who won’t read a paper book will read on their iPad or iPhone. That has to be a good thing.
So – if paper books have soul, and bookshops have souls – does and e-reader have a soul?
An e-reader can have hundreds of books stored on it. Looking at the list of books on mine, I can see lots of books about finding love. There are books about relationships with families and friends. Quite a few of the books on my e-reader are by authors I am honored to call my friends. There are the classic tales of adventure and imagination by the likes of H G Wells and Jules Verne and a couple of scary books, courtesy of Stephen King. That’s not to mention the crime novels – I kinda like the odd bit of murder and mayhem. There’s non-fiction too – books of folk tales and legends. Oh yes, there’s a couple of books about music – and copies of my own books.
But does the e-reader have a soul in the same way a bookshop has a soul. . Maybe – the books on the reader say a lot about me. They represent hours of enjoyment, some laughter, a lot of thought and even a bit of hard work. There’s imagination and passion and excitement.
That’s not quite a soul – but it’s something pretty good..