Change for Change’s Sake
Yesterday evening as I browsed through the books on my bookshelves I was struck by the beauty of the hard back titles. The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) used to provide books either in soft paper covers or, alternatively in what they described as cloth . boards. I am of the view that books are long term friends so purchased the hard back versions. Sadly RNIB no longer offer cloth bound volumes so the blind person wishing to purchase titles has Hobsons choice (they must like or lump the soft cover books sold by the Institute).
The hard cover books feel permanent and possess a wonderful scent wholly lacking in their soft bound alternatives. It is a real pleasure to take down Wuthering Heights in it’s cloth boards not only because it is a marvellous story but also due to the volumes being a pleasure to handle. They feel as though they where made to last and the braille protected as it is by the robust covers remains easy to read unlike some of my paper bound books. Where I to be a sighted person I would purchase hard backs in preference to paperbacks as they exude a sense of permanence and dare one say it stability.
As I browsed my books my mind wandered and I began to ponder the issue of permanence more generally. On occasions it seems as though we are, as a society obsessed with the ephemeral. Next time you are on public transport witness the number of people who are engrossed in madly texting rather than reading a book. Some of these texts are no doubt important, however especially with teenagers one suspects that many are wholly inane and are being sent to people whom the teen has only just left. Again the constant checking of Facebook fosters a view of the world in which nothing is permanent, things change constantly and one must always be moving forward on a roller coaster from one exciting post to another.
To sit down with a book is in contrast an experience to be savoured. With a good book one must concentrate and yes sometimes struggle. However the pleasure to be derived from comprehending a complicated plot or a difficult subject does (in my view) outweigh the shallow pleasures which eminate from the obsessive use of social media. In time (a very short time) most of the posts on Facebook will be forgotten, however Emily Brontae, Charles Dickens and other great writers will remain as proof that there is more to the world than a vapid ever shifting obsession with change for change’s sake.
I hope that I am not turning into an old fogey before my time!
Kevin
