Rub-a-Dub-Dub, I Read in the Tub
post a comment | posted Jul 25
Is a book its shape? Or its delivery system? No, of course not. (In case you were wondering those were rhetorical questions.)
In ancient days, books were inscribed on rolls of vellum or papyrus. Then came the codex, pages bound between covers of various substances like leather or cardboard or even, in the case of paperbacks...paper. Now we can read "books" electronically. Amazon.com is pushing something called the kindle that you can download text to like you download songs to an ipod. Here at the Fort Worth Library you can get access to the NetLibrary and read books online. And last but not least we have all the various audio-books that can be downloaded or checked out. Wow! Soooo many choices. And that is a good thing.
What is not such a good thing, in my opinion, is the notion that the electronic books in audio or text can replace the good old paperback. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This cannot be! I object! But, not because I am some backward looking Luddite or some stuck-in-the-age-of-paper-books fossil.
What I am (in the eyes of some) is far worse. I am a bath tub reader. I have done it since childhood and I am not stopping now. The pleasures of reading while soaking are ingrained in my psyche...fuss at me as you will. Now, let me be clear. I do not read library books in the tub nor hardcovers but only paperbacks that I myself buy. And so good am I at tub reading that I have not dunked one since 1986. Not bad.
Imagine trying to read something on a laptop in the tub. OK, the so-called kindle is portable, easy to hold in the hand, but probably not water proof and I cannot endanger a $359.00 piece of electronic equipment so blithely as I can an eight buck paperback. Until they solve that problem, I will refuse to countenance the demise of the paperback book. There must be others out there like me. Shall we band together as bath tub readers to ensure that we may continue to read and soak to our hearts content? What do you say?