“Books are dead” seemed as prophetic at the turn of the millennium as Nietzsche’s “God is dead” about a century earlier. Yet, both are very much alive, continuing to be as popular and influential as they ever were.
There was a time when books were amongst the most ubiquitous items in many a home. Barring the neatest of homes, they were to be found in all rooms - stored, piled, or stacked – in book cupboards, tables, even on chairs. The voracity and number of readers determined the extent of dispersal and height of piles of books. Though ever-rarer, such homes exist even now.
Books are a source of information and knowledge; a diligent reader may even draw wisdom from them. For many, they are an escape into a different world, taking one away from the humdrum toils of daily existence to a fairy-tale land. Between the covers lie various worlds in parallel universes, all waiting to be explored. Autobiographies and stories of heroes serve to inspire, while history informs and educates “How to” books provide instant solutions to myriad problems. Books inspire; they drive dreams and ignite imagination. Coffee table books bring the best paintings and art-work into your home, even as they take you on a journey to the wondrous sites and sights of far-away lands. Books are, indeed, magical.
In this area, as in others, technology has brought about a disaggregation: form and content, integral so far, are now separable. Thus, books and reading, once conjoined, can be distinct. Today, a vast number of people do much of their reading online, using their mobile or computer screens. Devices like Kindle can be loaded with hundreds of books, to be read at one’s leisure. This certainly makes for convenience, besides conserving the environment (fewer printed books equals less paper, so fewer trees cut) and storage space. In fact, to conserve space, many libraries now limit their collection of physical books. Soon, access terminals may outnumber books in libraries! For collectors, space in the home is even more of a problem – often forcing a move to digital reading.
Connoisseurs of books, though, yet value the tactile feel of a book, the physical turning of a page, the finality implicit in closing a completed book, the odour of an old book and the smell of a freshly-printed one. For them, even that unruly pile of books in the middle of a room is a pleasure to behold, a treasure trove of anticipated pleasures. There is unalloyed joy in a chance discovery of a long-lost favourite, while randomly rummaging through one’s bookshelves. Not for the digi-readers, these unique pleasures.
Similar joys await enthusiasts in bookshops: the fun of randomly browsing through books, the excitement of coming across a long-forgotten favourite, or discovering an interesting new author. For a while, it seemed these would have to retreat to the world of memories, of nostalgia, as bookshops increasingly transitioned to gift shops or chocolate boutiques, with a dozen books thrown in for interior decoration. Then came Covid, and bookshops were amongst the most affected. Yet, the determined and hardy have survived. One also spies green shoots of a possible revival. Hope springs eternal!
E-books, digital access, audio books, text-to-speech will certainly prosper and grow in years to come, but reading will not die. Nor, one hopes, will books.
*The author loves to think in tongue-in-cheek ways, with no maliciousness or offence intended. At other times, he is a public policy analyst and author. His latest book is Decisive Decade: India 2030 Gazelle or Hippo (Rupa, 2021).