Reading, no batteries required

[bemildred]

Tenderly, the lover caressed his beloved. So pale, so smooth. He tilted his head forward, the better to inhale that scent — rich and enticing. Fingertip to spine, feeling every contour, he pressed his face closer — and turned a page.

I don't know what you were thinking about, but I was talking about a book. A real book.

The Kindle and its ilk are just gizmos with pixilated screens. Hit the off button and its borrowed character vanishes. A genuine book has a soul of its own. It is tactile, beautiful, accessible. Not only do its contents tell us stories, it in itself is a story. That rare copy of Sir Isaac Newton's "Principia" — did his own august eyes behold it? And that first edition of "Pride and Prejudice" — whose ladylike hands held it, turned its pages by candlelight? The old copy of "The Cat in the Hat" is beloved not only for the tale it tells but for the crayoned personalization added by each generation of a family's children.

Do you mock books as old school? Wise up. Remember the 8-track tape that was supposed to be the dernier cri? Vanished into the recycling bin of history. The DVD gets supplanted byBlu-ray, which will soon be made obsolete by something else.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-morrison-book-love-20120422,0,7299838.column