Paper or Plastic?

Ever since I was little, I've loved books. I've loved reading. I've loved learning. Nothing has changed. I love the feel of a thick book in my hands; calculating how far until I'm a quarter of the way done, halfway done, three quarters of the way done; and the beautiful satisfaction of reading that last word on the last page. And I'll admit, there are times when I revel in the fact that I am more well-read than the majority of American society. I read Oliver Twist as a 7th grader. Completing that book marked my shift from reading children's novels to classic literature. I grew up a little bit the day I finished Oliver Twist. But regardless of what or how much I read, my point is that I love books.

Today, it's so easy to carry a book with you wherever you go: in your phone, your computer, your iPad, your Kindle. Book burning will never have the same effect again. I'm glad at this use of technology. And yet, despite how much I appreciate being able to read on my phone, I don't think I could give up collecting paper books. I could have a million books on a Kindle, but the feeling I'd get scrolling through those titles would never compare to the delight the stacks of a library evoke in me. The other day I walked into work carrying a copy of War and Peace to read during my breaks and received the incredulous and impressed comment, "THAT is a book." Books are expensive, yes. They are perishable, yes. But they are so much more than that. They are an ingrained part of human history.

Imagine this:

All the books in the world are burnt. I don't know why, maybe as alternative fuel or something. The "why?" is not important, they're all gone. And all we have left are the empty, dusty shelves of the libraries...and our electronic books. Never again would you experience the thrill of fanning 800 pages under your thumb. Never again would you breath in deeply the smell of an old or new book. You'd never know how loved a book was by its wear and tear, or be able to snap a book shut and rest your eyes after drinking in the final word of the story. Never.

Technology is wonderful but, call me old fashioned, it could never replace the added level of pleasure that reading a good book in its hard-copy form gives. A book is a book no matter how it's presented. Twilight will forever be poorly written ilk and Dickens will always have produced masterpieces, no matter what form they are presented in. But if I had to choose between paper or plastic?...I'd choose paper every time.