Why Paper Books?

"Why do you read paper books?” Now is the second time I've been asked this question today. The first time I was asked this question I wasn't sure how to answer. But now I think I can give the perfect answers.

With the increased circulation of social media and the Internet, people are spending more and more time on electronics, even in the classroom, where electronic versions of books and computers are often used. Every time I trudged to class with my heavy textbooks on my back, my friends would ask me, "Why paper books?” I have a computer that I can type on and an iPad that I can write on, but none of these conveniences can replace the importance of paper books to me. I acknowledge the simplicity and convenience that electronics bring us, but as my fingers traced the pages of the book, I felt each word turn into data transferred into my brain as my fingers stroked the paper. Fingers as a medium became a data line, connecting my brain to the paper, and words became data transferred to my body. 

Reading through Lahiri's "Why Italian," there was one word that caught my attention. It's like the grafting of a plant when she comes to telling the story of how she wholeheartedly merged herself with the Italian language like a plant. I also felt my soul resonate with this word as I read it. "Graft" is generally used among botanicals, but at the same time I could feel the attraction of the paper book for me is also like grafting, which ties us together through paper. For me, flipping through a paper book is not only like a transmission device connected by a data cable. When I read a paper book, the words are like cells entwined and slowly intertwined into vines that start climbing from my fingertips like a creeper until they wrap around me and become a part of me after reading a page.

Every time I describe this moment when the words combine with me in reading, my friends still express their belief that digital books can bring the same content, and they repeat the same question, "So why paper books?" This question has exhausted me, and it's hard for me to explain to them the weight that paper books bring to my mind. But at the same time, I have a hundred reasons to tell them the answer. Not only reading but paper books can at the same time turn time into an object. In paper books, I can feel time being fixed and turn into a physical preservation of time. As I enjoy the process of reading, it is the connection of the paper and me that brings me together with the mood the author wants to convey. And after reading, I habitually put the finished book into my bookshelf. Those are not just books, those books with notes I've made and sticky notes. Each page with its slight crease and the part I wrote will be permanently sealed in my bookcase. Whenever I look at those books, I recall the mood and memory of reading them at that time. Those books are evidence of my reading at a particular time, stole my time, and will always lie there quietly, guarding my time and memories, waiting for the next time I open them to fill them with the new time. It is not just the words that enter my brain, I also used time and traces to fill in them. 

Reading paper books has become a habit and a unique idiom for me. Every tiny detail of leaving a mark on the paper with the tip of my pen, and of flipping through the paper so that the flat paper is stained with folds and crosses, tells me how important paper books are to me. These are cold electronic data that can not be conveyed, in my heart paper books have more temperature than digital books. I also enjoy the moment of pausing to turn the page after each page I read, although it's just a short second, that second of pause feels like a subtle sense of satisfaction. My friend is very used to the Kindle, and she was proud to tell me that paper books can do the digital books can also do, and digital books can not only take notes but also use a small area to look at different books. I thought for a moment, I asked myself, "Why paper books"?

That's when I thought about the "blindness" that Lahiri had mentioned. I closed my eyes and thought about it. I'm fascinated by the smell of paper, and books from different periods have different flavors. Not just about the visual, when a person turns off vision, the other senses become more sensitive. Meanwhile, the sense of smell is the most obvious to be enhanced. Newly opened books will leave a smell unique to paper printing, and books that have been stored for a long time will leave a vintage smell. Fingers touching the paper is also a different touch. Some pages are smoother, and some are rougher, some pages that have been left for a long time will bend and become yellow, and the book covers are also different in texture and design. Each book is different through these differences in detail, not because the story is different. Digital books are very boring, just a single record of words on a tiny screen, just reading the words will make the book lack soul. Only the book can be said to be complete where it can be touched. Digital books are like inferior replicas when fingers touch the paper is like the transmission of data, and digital books really do that, they really turn the book into "data". Digital books were created to allow people to read books anywhere, anytime, but can never take the place of paper books. When reading a book becomes just to know what's in it, instead of enjoying the process of reading it, it's just like doing a task like completing homework, which is undoubtedly painful. If it is painful, people will shed it when necessary. This phenomenon is very interesting, which is why many people buy the digital version but are not reading the book anymore because they are not able to enjoy the process of reading the book. 

I am obsessed with the sense of accomplishment that paper books give me, and I think that only after my hands touch the paper when my finger turns the last page of the book, I will consider that’s truly finished reading a book. Even if the paper book is heavy and takes up a lot of space, I love the traditional spiritual baptism brought to me by the paper book. Paper books are the only antidote that allows me to slow down and think in this fast-paced society. Reading paper books is more like a ritual for me, cleansing me of the excess impetuous and filth. people have always absorbed the form of paper for thousands of years to absorb this sacred magic. I believe that if a ritual is used as a medium through electronics, it will not be successful, and I will always be the most fervent and loyal believer of paper books. If somebody keeps asking me, "Why paper books", I would recommend that they come to the library on a quiet afternoon, make a cup of coffee, and read a book with complete commitment. After they will find the best answers.