My hope is that books will always be a part of our culture. I can think of no other media that satisfies the need for entertainment, and at the same time challenges the mind in the process, leaving one with the potential of an education that is limited only by ones own choice and range of interests. LONG LIVE THE BOOK!
- Frank
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The book is here to stay. You can't curl up in bed on a cold winter night with a cup of hot chocolate and a computer! Long live the book.
- Christina
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The Book will never die because book lovers won't let it. If you LOVE books you love the look of them, the feel of them, the smell of them, you love them old or new, you love the weight of them. If you love books you don't just love reading them you love them for themselves. Long live the book!
- Rachel
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I'm 56 years old and have been reading since I was 3. My dad taught me because he was an avid reader and he hoped he could pass his love on. And he did in spades. I read two or three books at a time, switching from one to the other so I don't finish one too soon. I love to read. I love that I can go back to a favorite passage whenever I want. I love that I can bring my best friends with me on the bus or plane or to a restaurant. I'm never alone if I have a book to read. On the way out? Never! I gave my son this same passion and though he's a drummer in a punk rock band and is quite "out there" all his friends know that if he has his face in a book they aren't to disturb him because he won't even know you're there. He also learned how to read very young. I taught him by reading story books to him and pointing out the words as I read. He learned so fast that he was soon reading to me! His favourite book when he was about 8 or 9 was Beowulf! It still ranks high on his list but he reads so much that he has dozens of favourites. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole ranks high with both of us. Books will never be "out". We love to read!
- Darcy
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Absolutely! My son works for a High Tech computer company, his young sons were on the computer before they could walk good. But for Christmas, they had books on the wish list telling me of their favorite authors. (Yes, along with computer games.) Books you can ponder and soak up the words, the pictures they create, the feeling they illict, then reread them a year later and gain new insight or understandings based on your own growth. I have traveled the world and beyond and have never been out of the U.S., thanks to books. I have immersed myself in cultures that interested me, gaining new perspectives worldwide. I don't have time to waste watching TV but give me time to spare and I have settled in with a great boook.
-Shelia
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I purchase a lot of books from the 18th and 19th centuries for clients. These are mostly leather bound and needless to say, beautiful. My family laugh at me because the first thing I do when I unwrap a new aquisition is place it under my nose, close my eyes and inhale the beautiful fragrance of old leather. Then I open it and repeat, inhaling the musk of old books that have been loved and cared for. Only then do I look at the book itself. Old books that have been cared for are sensuous things, providing a tactile experience that no computer or CD can ever hope to rival.
- Barry
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Books will survive because they are our last thread to imagination. by seeing everything we no longer are able to create multiple atmospheres from a single word or phrase. that's the beauty of book discussion: we have all read the same book but we have seen untold (imagined) multiple atmospheres, where else can this occur?
- Charles
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Books on the way out? Hardly! 80% of the general population are waiting on Da Vinci Code Part 2 whilst the next generation are devastated over the loss of one Harry Potter. Whilst it may not be literature at its best it still requires somebody picking up a book & reading it.
- Leah
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I read constantly. My fondest early memory is sitting in my father's lap as he read to me. I have had several "careers" during my long life, but my most rewarding, most satisfying was that of teaching English literature and watching reluctant students become enthralled with Homer, Beowulf, Song of Roland, and other much maligned classics - changing their stance completely to that of avid readers instead of reluctant readers. Computers crash, TVs go on the blink, but my 10 (stuffed) bookcases are always there!
- Elizabeth
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The size, shape, heft, and feel of paper are just so wonderful to curl up with on a chair with music playing, or sit at a desk with a book spread before me open with that perfect shadow between the pages, and as I eagerly turn the page, and the suspense of what's next is answered for a minute, I know no other technology has this affect on me. Movies, TV, Computers, etc. all have their good qualities to inform and entertain me, but I control the book and how I get to enjoy it--the timing and enjoyment of rereading a beautifully written passage is without equal. Through these pages, the author speaks to me in so many ways. No, the book will never go away and when it is beautifully printed, beautifully bound and covered with a fetchingly graphic cover, I'm ready to curl up or sit down and move into the author's world.
-David
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I enjoyed reading about the gas station attendant who held the book in one hand and operated the till with the other. This reinforces my feeling - one I have had since I first learned to read - that there is a very special connection between a book and a book lover. There is undoubtedly something extremely comforting in physically holding a book, new or old - it matters not. Unlike reading words printed on a distant and coldly impersonal screen, reading a book requires physical involvement. After all, you have to turn the pages and can, therefore, be as tactile as you want. As a high school English teacher, I try to transmit some of my enthusiasm for reading to my students and must confess to having feelings of jubilation whenever I succeed. Long live the book (and readers)! Shakespeare said it much more beautifully: "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long live [they]...."
-Judy
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As long as there are people to write books, there will be people to read them. I do not like to read books on the internet. There is something special that occurs when you pick up a book, open it, commence to read the printed word and touch each page as you turn it to reveal the next; these experiences cannot be duplicated within any other format. Books have a special smell to them and a personality of their own. To intrinsically enhale the author's thoughts and internalize the adventure that develops from the pathways he or she creates, while the words meander into sentences and paragraphs merge into chapters - is something magical. It enables the reader to vicariously experience the author's literary journey; the reader cannot help but be changed by the written word. When you have traversed from the front cover to the back cover, you feel a sense of accomplished that cannot be matched by any other medium. NO! Thank heaven the surmised extinction of the reality of books has been, and is, greatly exaggerated!
-Diane
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As long as there are romantic souls walking this earth books will never go out of fashion. I don't look at just the success of the chain superstores to make that determination but the record setting prices at auctions that prove books are prized in our society more than ever. Having been a book lover all my life my home is overflowing with books, brand new ones and those brittle and browned with age, my favorite. Although my children are not the avid readers that I was at their age, I continue to cultivate a growing interest in books by buying them the ones that follow their hobbies and interests. My passion and excitment over a new acquisition isn't lost on them and they can never help but to look over my shoulder and take a peek at the newest 18th or 19th century arrival. They are learning and will become the next generation of collectors. There is an old saying that you may have heard, and I may misquote slightly, but it sums up the persona of those who love books, it is "my favorite things are old, books and wine, friends and times". Very romantic don't you think?
-Sue
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NO! NO! NO! reading books will never go out of style, I know that I will always read books. My sons love to read too. History and mysteries are my favorite, but I like teaching books on art and crafts. I LOVE books all books. I could never get many books when I was growing up, so now I sometimes buy a book just because I can. Books and bookshelves are in every room of my house. Reading books is a LOVE affair that will go on forever.
-Ruth
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