8/30/2013
Summary: So I haven't finished The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss yet, but I've read a good 220 pages so far, which means I'm about a third of the way through, so hurrah! I'm rather sick, so I'm sure this will be a good opportunity to maybe finish this weekend, but we'll see. Along with Game of Thrones The Name of the Wind has been acclaimed to be one of the best high-fantasy series since Lord of the Rings, and I can certainly see how it's earning that spot. The writing is poetic, artistic, lucid and entertaining. It's told in a way that's almost meant to be heard aloud because much of the story is told through our lead telling his story to another person, which I find to be a fascinating and engaging technique. So as not to be a spoiler monger, I won't say a great deal, however I certainly adore how the reader is getting to witness our pretentious little hero, Kvothe, make his transition from a travelling performer, to a beggar and cut-purse, and later on a man of legend. I can't express how much I respect Rothfuss as a storyteller, I'm astounded by his skill in keeping voice through his narration, it's truly beautiful.
Now on the topic of electronic books, I would open by saying for most, it's a sensitive one (most being people who read). I never want to live in a world where I can't walk into a book store or library, open the physical book, smell its pages, and touch the tea stains previous readers have left. There's little I love more than the smell of ink on paper. While I understand the point that with the growth of electronics paper books could disappear. While I find that thought terrifying, I truly don't think that'll happen. And here's why: I'm not the only one. Books are bought, published, written, and payed for by people who read and love them. While I think kindles and nooks are great, I'd really love one, I love the weight of a book in my hand so much more. I love seeing that my friend's backpack doesn't weight a good 150 pounds because he does his homework (Ha~) but because he carries a good eight to ten books with him at all times. These people, these poets and readers and writers for the most part feel the same way, and if they want to prevent idle ink from having no pages to fall on, they'll protect that.
But say things change, as they could, and books become 100% digitized, all I can do is quote John Green. "I don't care how people read, I just care that they read." And that's what it comes down to. For years upon years stories were told verbally, passed down verbally, and the sound and rhythm of these stories is what kept them alive, I would almost say that this art of storytelling is kind of dead. But stories are not dead. They are far more alive then I am and so many are available in so many different forms. So say we do lose our dusty pages by our fireplaces, we won't lose our stories and that's what is important. While I don't think a conscious and alert reader will lose any understanding by reading digitally, there's a loss of mood to be acknowledged, but ultimately, we as readers and storytellers lose nothing, because wherever we have to go to find stories and books, we will, and as the readers, the fate of paper books is up to us. If paper books are bought they will be made. As long as people, not just the select few who spend their free period in the library, but people as a whole rekindle (what, what's that? A really good pun you say? Thanks for noticing!) their love for stories, I don't care how they read them or find them as long as they do.
"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." - Poet Joseph Brodsky
