BOOKS

A friend on a social network site posed the question, “Are traditional books obsolete?” I sure hope not. I love books. I have so many that I don’t have the bookcases to display them so a lot are in boxes. I also have a Kindle because it is light and handy for train journeys, so I’m not a complete dinosaur. Apparently it is possible to download eBooks to your PC and iPad, MP3 and all sorts of techno gadgets. I still love bound tomes. Some books are so rare they are priceless and beautiful beyond believe. What about the Book of Kells for example? Leaving a written record of life goes back to cave drawings. History is rich with truth and untruth, myth and legend and imagination. We wouldn’t know anything about medicine or religion if it were not for the chronicles of scholars.

I have gone to Middle Earth with the Hobbits, the Artic and Sahara with Dirk Pitt and his sidekick Al Giordino.  I have travelled to other worlds with Dean Koonzt’ characters and other dimensions with Stephen King. All without leaving the house. Books transport us, inform us and educate us. Little books teach kids to read. Big books can do your head in with techno speak.

When I was at primary school Raymond Pollock read us The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway. It was enthralling for us. We were riveted and it made a real impact on many of our lives.

Since then I have read books such as Bambi. The film is very good but the book is better as are many. Dean Koonzt Odd Thomas series is … Odd and wonderful. Here are some of my other favorites:

The Earths Children by Jean M Auel

Dean Koonzt’ By the Light of the Moon

The Crusades by various historic writers.

The Tattooed Rood by Kyle Onstott and Lance Horner

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Dennis Wheatley’s The Launching of Roger Brook

Steig Larsson’s The Girl With the …       

I would be lost without my dictionary.

I could go on for ever and a day. There are so many wonderful books out there. Harry Potter is great in print and on film. War Horse is both tragic and uplifting.   

I have to be realistic though and acknowledge that the earth’s resources are finite. Technology will save the trees that create oxygen so we can live and breathe. I do worry that we will lose sight of the unique in favour of the new-fangled though. If the power goes off you can read a book by candlelight but you can’t charge the devices. Something to ponder about me thinks.

And even though we can download the Ballymoney and Moyle Times from the Internet, there is nothing quite like the smell of news print.