Art & Culture: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way.

"Buy this book on the moon landing and get a free, genuine lunar rock!" Sound a tad gimmicky? It is. But take heart. It isn't nearly as gimmicky as using a pint of a famous Indian cricketer's blood to produce the paper upon which a book about his life is printed. Besides giving new meaning to pouring one's blood, sweat and tears into a project, it smacks of desperation. Such is the state of the print industry that even reputable publishers such as Kraken Opus and Taschen Books would resort to these freak-show tactics to sell their wares. But it doesn't have to be this way.

I still routinely buy books (both online and off) and can rarely if ever bring myself to throw any away unless they turn out to be truly rubbish. I buy books because I love to read and can't quite reconcile myself with the Kindle or other e-readers. While the idea of having thousands of books at my finger tips sounds enticing in theory, I know I would miss the tactile experience of holding a book and perusing the pages. I also happen to enjoy living with books - I find them a comforting sight after a long day at work, a fair portion of which is spent seated in front of a computer.

As antediluvian as it may seem, I don't think I'm alone in feeling this way and I'm also unconvinced that it is, as some would contend, a generational divide. I believe our children will continue to read and value print provided of course we give them good reason to. This brings me to my point. I don't deny that there are significant cultural and financial pressures bearing down on the print industry and forcing it out of its complacency. This said, both as an avid reader and as a writer, it bothers me deeply to witness reputable publishers resorting to these types of tactics. To me, this cheapens the industry and does far more damage than e-readers and the Internet could ever inflict.

Print needs to offer a compelling alternative to Web-based publishing to survive. It needs to offer readers something that they simply can't get from a computer or a tablet. Imagine for instance a book with images so arresting that they simply can't be adequately rendered by digitalisation. Imagine a text written on paper so gorgeous to the touch that you want to hold the book just for the pleasure of feeling it in your hands. Imagine a book with words so moving to read that you want to own the book for the privilege of reading them over and over again rather than discarding it when you're done. As an avid reader, that is what I want. What I don't want is a drop of human blood incorporated into the paper. That's simply repugnant.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Comments

[John Agee Paris]

Hélène, you say it doesn't have to be "this way", but it unfortunately is. I'm also afraid that I don't share your optimism about our children reading in the future. Looming over the horizon in the not too distant future will be a time when the publishing and print industries will be decimated or non-existant. Everything will come through that glowing box, and I mean everything. You can already see it.

I'm only in my early forties, but I already see a different kind of human being developing in people in their twenties and younger, and it is not encouraging. It's a bit better here in France where the literary culture casts a long shadow (I still smile when I recall a few years back seeing some skater dude on Metro Line 4 reading a Renaissance history of Brittany!), but America, on the other hand, is truly pathetic. A book that sells 50,000 copies is considered a bestseller, and this in a country of 300 million people.

There will always be some people who read print, but it will shrink dramatically in our lifetime, which does not bode well for what's left of our democratic institutions.