Reading is tactile. I touch the pages with my hands, absorbing the atmosphere as well as the words. Shutter Island is intense, rubbing the page corners between tense fingers; Trainspotting held wide apart as I stare down at it, confused, and try to imitate the accent as quietly as possible in an attempt to clarify its meaning. The Book Thief is flicked through constantly as I read it, delighted, and fans the dust in the air into other people's personal bubbles. The Beach is held firm as I attempt to ignore the constant growing hunger for the next page; Harry Potter less so as I relish the most important find of my childhood.
There is nothing to be gained from a cold hard screen. Fiction online is never as enjoyable as you try to rest your eyes every now and again, straining; characters jump from paper pages, but simply stare wistfully at you willing to be printed out online.
I would rather carry my entire library on my shoulders than buy an E-Reader, and that library is fairly sizeable.
It's good to read that. I agree. The smell of the pages is important too- I hate the fact that people are relying on technology more and more, especially for something as human as a book.
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