More than once, my parents have questioned why I adamantly refuse to transition to a Kindle despite my passion for literature. I’ve given them a number of different answers, but in truth there’s only one real reason: there’s no romance. Not the hugs and kisses kind, but rather anything that appeals to emotions. Imagine a well-crafted painting of a young man reading underneath a blossoming tree in the spring, the blue sky filled with clouds, and maybe the leaves are shaking from the breeze. Sounds like something out of a story, right? Now replace that book in the young man’s hand with a piece of modern technology like the Kindle, and while it’s certainly realistic, the image loses a lot of its charm.
I don’t doubt the usefulness of the Kindle, and I believe the chance is quite high that paper books will stop being printed altogether. Yet I have no intention of choosing a digital copy over a physical one until I’m forced to. The cold, practicality of modern technology will never be able to replicate how easy it is to sink into a good story with the book in-between your hands. That indescribable appeal that can be measured only with emotion, not logic, is the definition of romance.
It’s difficult to say where exactly this attitude of mine came from. If I had to pick something, however, it’d be the countless fantasies I’ve read over the years, whether it’s a straight-forward tale like Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a satirical story from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, or even the classic myths of King Arthur himself. The idea of knights saving damsels in distress from whatever villainous creatures are happening to pass by that afternoon has been burned into my mind. It’s an undoubtedly simplistic ideal, but it’s in that simplicity that I find the romance of chivalry, the same romance I feel as I hold that gathering of paper in my hands, reading those legendary tales.
In the end, you can boil it down to, “I like paper books because I do.” I’m sure that I could come up with a handful of logical explanations as to why I feel that way, and even convince others to think like I do, but it still ends up with the same result. Besides, sometimes in this highly cynical and utilitarian era, it’s nice not to think about the why of matters, and just curl up and relax with a good book.
– By Calvin To