The Inimitable Joy Of Reading
People say that a dog is Man's best friend - I say a book is. Books are truly Man's best friends. Nothing compares to the pleasure of sitting down and curling up with a good book. And when I do, I can anticipate the good times we are going to have together even though I may not have read the book before. The summary at the back gives a sneak-peak to spike up the anticipation and to decide if I want to go ahead. If it feels ok I decide to take the next step. Time is a precious commodity so its not a bad idea to read only popular books or award-winners. A bad book is a waste of precious time, that cant ever be regained. Although its a bonus to find a book with a captive cover, truly the cover of a book doesnt matter. I know that one must not judge a book by its cover, its whats inside it that truly counts and the only way to find out whats inside is to read it. But thats not to say that the cover needn't feel good. A nice sturdy hard paperback is undoubtedly the coveted luxury of the book world. They sure are more expensive but no matter what the book, the reading experience is instantly refined if its a hard paperback instead of the soft.
Before I start, all the initial rituals have to be mandatorily performed, thats clearly the only way to ensure the book experience to be uniquely mine. Turn it over a couple of times in my hand to get the feel of it - literally. Read the notes about the author to familiarize myself with the creator of book. Browse through all the accolades and appreciation notes earned by this literary work of art - serves as a great prelude to appreciate the book better. Then the feel of the paper between the fingers is vital. I particularly like the older ones, they are thicker and get dry and crispier over time so the texture feels good beneath the touch. One has to use the delicate touch while handling these. The aged papyrus, more brown than yellow at the edges forming a natural vintage border-frame, is like old wine getting better over time. I can picture my self transported in to those olden days through those pages. Some books have really thin pages so one can see through to the letters on the next page. Thats just no fun, it feels like the page is full of jumbled letters and I am searching for the words in a word jungle. Its also more cumbersome to turn the pages.
Another vital factor is the scent. All books have their own unique sweet scent which in itself tells a story. The pleasant scent of the book and the pages as I scroll through it strangely make me hungry. Here too the older well-worn ones deserve the first reference, they carry the scents from a different world that we can only dream of. Locked in between the pages are the scents from an 18th or 19th century world. From all their years of the existence they carry the tiniest whifs of essences from all the airs that they inhabited, all the hands that turned their pages and thus carry proof of their timelessnes and antiquity. The older not-so-well-worn books are the best. They are touched by fewer hands, so smell fresher. The sweet aroma of the vintage paper is safely locked and preserved within the pages without getting altered by the touch of hands. They smell awesome. I am instantly tranported to the dark damp corner of a huge library filled with the scent of vintage hard-bound paper-back books. Its a bookworm's ultimate fantasy! I could sit there for ages until I loose track of time.
The newer ones are just as good. They have brighter, sturdier pages and are not necessarily the "handle with care" types. One can play around and be more relaxed while handling them. Its these little things that make the reading unique, personal, pleasuresome and unforgettable. Sorry Amazon, the Kindle is good, but the true essense of reading a book is in, reading a real book.
The print is perhaps the most decisive factor of a good book experience. The print has to be big, no small myopic print can provide the true pleasure of reading, even less so if you wind up having myopia because of it. There is some thing about the larger print that is more friendly, that calls out to you saying " Read me and before you know, you would have reached the last page". The smaller prints are more intimidating, they warn " Are you sure? Really? You could give up before you finish." And that ofcourse is the worst thing for a book and its reader. Giving up on a book half way through is an unspeakable offense. No reader should ever have to go through that kind of an unfortunate experience. I have never given up on a book so far, I guess I have played it safe by sticking to the popular ones, critically acclaimed best-sellers and award-winners. Its almost depressing to give up on a book, leaves a bad taste on your mind thats hard to get rid of. I am no book critic. I read for the joy if it. And I trust my books to continue imparting that joy, so God forbid that trust be broken by a bad book. The trauma could keep me away from reading, for a long time.
Having read all kinds of book from comedies, tragedies, fantasy, thrillers, horrors, mysteries/detective, classics, biographies, short-stories to non-fiction, I can guarantee that it doesnt matter what genre a book falls under, so long as its well-written and captures the readers attention till the end. And no book experience is complete without a hot beverage to enjoy by the side or may be a snack or two.
Not a lot has changed since the time people have started writing books. Sure the number of books that are published, and the number of people that call themselves authors/writers - if writing a single book, even though it may be lower than trash, is sufficient to give them that title - has increased astronomically. In the olden days it was the special privilege of the very few well-learned, knowlegeable, elite literati.
In these times its easier than ever for any one to write a book and even more so to get it published. And so, as there are a lot of good books out there from all kinds of minds young and old with fresh and unique ideas to share with the world, there is also even more trash that the unsuspecting world should be protected from.
Now then, lets not let those make us shy away from books. Good books are true treasures and there will be plenty of them in every generation. So do your homeworks well, grab a cup of hot coffee and sit down with a book and read away.
Before I start, all the initial rituals have to be mandatorily performed, thats clearly the only way to ensure the book experience to be uniquely mine. Turn it over a couple of times in my hand to get the feel of it - literally. Read the notes about the author to familiarize myself with the creator of book. Browse through all the accolades and appreciation notes earned by this literary work of art - serves as a great prelude to appreciate the book better. Then the feel of the paper between the fingers is vital. I particularly like the older ones, they are thicker and get dry and crispier over time so the texture feels good beneath the touch. One has to use the delicate touch while handling these. The aged papyrus, more brown than yellow at the edges forming a natural vintage border-frame, is like old wine getting better over time. I can picture my self transported in to those olden days through those pages. Some books have really thin pages so one can see through to the letters on the next page. Thats just no fun, it feels like the page is full of jumbled letters and I am searching for the words in a word jungle. Its also more cumbersome to turn the pages.
Another vital factor is the scent. All books have their own unique sweet scent which in itself tells a story. The pleasant scent of the book and the pages as I scroll through it strangely make me hungry. Here too the older well-worn ones deserve the first reference, they carry the scents from a different world that we can only dream of. Locked in between the pages are the scents from an 18th or 19th century world. From all their years of the existence they carry the tiniest whifs of essences from all the airs that they inhabited, all the hands that turned their pages and thus carry proof of their timelessnes and antiquity. The older not-so-well-worn books are the best. They are touched by fewer hands, so smell fresher. The sweet aroma of the vintage paper is safely locked and preserved within the pages without getting altered by the touch of hands. They smell awesome. I am instantly tranported to the dark damp corner of a huge library filled with the scent of vintage hard-bound paper-back books. Its a bookworm's ultimate fantasy! I could sit there for ages until I loose track of time.
The newer ones are just as good. They have brighter, sturdier pages and are not necessarily the "handle with care" types. One can play around and be more relaxed while handling them. Its these little things that make the reading unique, personal, pleasuresome and unforgettable. Sorry Amazon, the Kindle is good, but the true essense of reading a book is in, reading a real book.
The print is perhaps the most decisive factor of a good book experience. The print has to be big, no small myopic print can provide the true pleasure of reading, even less so if you wind up having myopia because of it. There is some thing about the larger print that is more friendly, that calls out to you saying " Read me and before you know, you would have reached the last page". The smaller prints are more intimidating, they warn " Are you sure? Really? You could give up before you finish." And that ofcourse is the worst thing for a book and its reader. Giving up on a book half way through is an unspeakable offense. No reader should ever have to go through that kind of an unfortunate experience. I have never given up on a book so far, I guess I have played it safe by sticking to the popular ones, critically acclaimed best-sellers and award-winners. Its almost depressing to give up on a book, leaves a bad taste on your mind thats hard to get rid of. I am no book critic. I read for the joy if it. And I trust my books to continue imparting that joy, so God forbid that trust be broken by a bad book. The trauma could keep me away from reading, for a long time.
Having read all kinds of book from comedies, tragedies, fantasy, thrillers, horrors, mysteries/detective, classics, biographies, short-stories to non-fiction, I can guarantee that it doesnt matter what genre a book falls under, so long as its well-written and captures the readers attention till the end. And no book experience is complete without a hot beverage to enjoy by the side or may be a snack or two.
Not a lot has changed since the time people have started writing books. Sure the number of books that are published, and the number of people that call themselves authors/writers - if writing a single book, even though it may be lower than trash, is sufficient to give them that title - has increased astronomically. In the olden days it was the special privilege of the very few well-learned, knowlegeable, elite literati.
In these times its easier than ever for any one to write a book and even more so to get it published. And so, as there are a lot of good books out there from all kinds of minds young and old with fresh and unique ideas to share with the world, there is also even more trash that the unsuspecting world should be protected from.
Now then, lets not let those make us shy away from books. Good books are true treasures and there will be plenty of them in every generation. So do your homeworks well, grab a cup of hot coffee and sit down with a book and read away.
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