All Good Books are Alike

All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened…
Ernest Hemingway

I’ve noticed lately that there is a lot of media time being given to a personal entertainment option that not only provides information and in-depth factoids, but also immerses the user in vivid imagery that engages the senses in flights of fancy, guaranteed to make the hours whiz by. This device allows users to digest its output at their own pace, and can be set aside and left for long periods of time without losing any fidelity or reverting to a default setting. What’s more, you can avail yourself of this product in several formats, and you never have to worry about a power source, adaptors, or attachments. It works just fine at either the beach or the living room and comes in very sturdy packaging. Best of all, it’s reasonably priced, and is sold at just about any retail outlet you can imagine, even at the airport.

Naturally, your first question is, “What has Steve Jobs come up with now, and how can I get it?” But you would be wrong - this device has been around for at least 550 years, and probably a whole lot longer. I am referring, of course, to a book. Not a Kindle, or an iBook, or even an Etch-a-Sketch; I mean the printed word, bound in hard or soft cover and maybe illustrated, but definitely filled with fantastic things.

Now before you start on me about being an old fogey or a Luddite or some other form of over-the-hill crank with a keyboard, here’s my point: books are hot again! As we amble through this summer, which is shaping up as the toastiest overall on record, I catch repeated stories in the media about how spending the summer reading a great book is more popular now than ever. Some librarians may disagree, but the fact is that certain authors of fiction have really lit up minds across this country. I think there was concern that the fever that gripped the younger generations (as well as us old fogeys) through the run of the Harry Potter series would abate with the conclusion of the seventh and final book, but there is ample reason to believe this is not the case. Whether its young folks devouring Diary of a Wimpy Kid, or it’s their older siblings reading any one of the vampire/ werewolf/ supernatural-themed series that abound today, good old books appear to be in demand with the “Kindle generation”. And for those of you who may question the quality of the literature, I can say personally that I don’t care what the subject matter is, as long as it’s well written, and most of my generation cut our reading teeth on fantasy anyway. C’mon, how many 50-somethings out there first got caught up in a love of books through the imaginary worlds of Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia and Dune? If it gets young folks to dig reading, I’m all for it!

It’s also interesting to note the apparent boom in book reading amongst the fogeys. I know that the best-seller lists remain full of self-help books and screeds of political diatribe, but there is also plenty of more traditional summertime fiction to be found, led by Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. I’m sure, too, that there are plenty of folks using various electronic devices to read their selections, but everyone I know is doing it the old fashioned way -putting aside an hour or two, finding a comfortable spot, and cracking open a book. This to me is the real hook of great (and not so great ) literature - the chance to slow down the pace a bit, maybe get your mind off the day’s drudgery, and climb a tree with Captain Yossarian, get lost with Ralph and Piggy, or have a cup of tea with Emma. Reading is a solitary enterprise, of course, but a good book will deliver you into a world of complexity and fill your time with witty conversation, life-long friends, intrigue, and quite possibly danger. And guess what? If you’ve finished your book and moved on to other things, you can revisit it, and nothing will have changed, unlike almost anything else in life. Atticus Finch will still hold true to his beliefs, Gus McCrae will still ride off into the sunset, and Holden Caulfield will be waiting for you out in the rye.

What really seals the deal for me is that you can also share these worlds with others and ponder their interpretation, even if it’s different from yours. Books as gifts come with the promise of more than momentary impact, and often can provide the basis for conversation well into the future. Give one to a young person and think of it as a way to keep the cycle going; open another person’s mind to the power of the written word and give them something to do on a sultry summer afternoon. Sometimes we all need an escape from the daily grind.

Have a great week!