A world without books would be, well, an unintelligent one; or even clueless at that. For me personally, when I first thought about it, a world without books seemed like it really wouldn’t be all that bad! Then again, I guess there’s more out there than just novels and textbooks. Even though I’m not the type of person that enjoys grabbing a book and sitting down to read it as a means of entertainment, I would be pretty “thick-headed” if you will, to sit here and say that I would be fine if they were non-existent. I mean, when I thought about it, I realized that books are what make me who I am entirely; or a single book rather. I’m speaking of the bible in this case, which, as I’m sure most of us are probably already aware of, is by far the best-selling book of all time. The bible in itself is what defines, well, a lot of the people who live here on earth. It’s what a lot of people basically live for in a sense. I started thinking about a movie that came out last year called
The Book of Eli.
Hopefully you have all seen it (or don’t plan on it) so that I don’t ruin it for you. Basically it’s a story set in a “post-apocalyptic era where a man has to fight his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets of saving humankind”; which, sorry if I’m ruining it for you, ends up being the bible. The reason I bring the movie up is because it didn’t seem like anyone appreciated or valued the bible (or books in general) until they couldn’t get their hands on one. Now, obviously the bible in this context is an exception considering its significance. The point being made, however, can be made relevant to all books. I just don’t think we would realize the significance of having lost the books until we were actually taken away from us and we were forbidden to read them. I know that right now (to myself) it may not seem like that big of a deal if books were taken away from me, but that I truly would miss them if they were gone. The reason I mention the word “clueless” to describe a society without books is because without books, we wouldn’t have a past to learn from. Nothing would really make sense if we didn’t know our history. For example, we wouldn’t know why our continents are divided and separated into countries the way they are. We’d only be able to rely on the passing of word, which from what I learned during my days dealing with high school gossip, isn’t all that reliable.
As far as ways in which we metaphorically “burn books” every day, I think the list could probably go on and on. As a society I think we are gradually losing sight of both the factual and entertainment aspects of books. If we have a question now days, rather than referring to a book we refer to google. If we need something to do, rather than sitting down and reading a book we turn on the television or computer. We’re burning them in the sense that their significance and relevance to us is non-existent at times. We throw them in the back seat in order to welcome technology of sorts. Then again, can we really blame ourselves?
"A world without books would be, well, an unintelligent one; or even clueless at that."
ReplyDeleteI wrote about this point as well in my blog. Without books I feel like we really wouldn't be as knowledgeable. I agree with you in that we are losing different aspects of books. We have everything at our fingertips and we like the comfort of our houses, so to get up and have to go to the library when we have a computer right in front of us seems impossible. Not a lot of people want to sit down and spend time reading a book. They'd rather watch reality television or play video games or something else. Again, technology is shown to play a huge role in our culture today.
"A world without books would be, well, an unintelligent one; or even clueless at that...Even though I’m not the type of person that enjoys grabbing a book and sitting down to read it as a means of entertainment, I would be pretty “thick-headed” if you will, to sit here and say that I would be fine if they were non-existent."
ReplyDeleteI really like how you admit to not choosing reading as your first thing to do with your spare time but still admit a world with out books would be a dumb one. I completely agree with you. It wouldn't be okay if there were no books, some people really need them to fully understand what they are learning (textbooks) or to help them with daily struggles (the bible). Not having a book at your fingertips may seem alright at first, but after careful consideration it's kind of a scary thought.
It's funny that we are all doing the same thing saying that we don't read that often but know without books, the world would be lacking intelligence altogether. We understand the importance but we simply don't care enough to read a lot. Like with your example of book of Eli, people didn't care about the book until it was the last copy. Then it becomes important??
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome that you brought up the bible because I did not even think about it as I was writing my own blog. I went to a catholic high school and without the bible, my school wouldn't have existed let alone would my faith or many of the customs my family lives by and builds their morals from.
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