The contest between real (print) book and e- (or electronic) book is gradually getting to our shores. But how soon the e-book can still pose any real threat to the print is still far, at least I can say that with some certainty. However, a few others think it is not that far. Why? I was at a gathering a few weeks ago and the debate about books was triggered when a fellow broke out of the group and went to a nearby shop to purchase a novel.
Immediately he returned with the book, someone asked him, “You mean you still buy physical books? What has happened to your Ipad?” No doubt, it is an old debate and it is one that would go on for as long as mankind continues to read. I think is it just a matter of choice and preference.
For those who think electronic book is preferable, the thing to ask is how you enjoy sitting down reading without leaving through those pages and feeling the smell of a new book or even an old one. There is something sensual about reading a new book or even an old dog eared book; this is a quality that the e-book does not have.
The joy of reading a book is cuddling it and feeling elated, it gives you a feeling that is out of this world and surreal. Why should I exchange that for holding an Ipad, Kindle or any of those so called exotic devices? Writers around the world are beginning to embrace these new devices because the important thing is for their books to be read, either in print or e-book. But there is nothing like a printed book, (thanks to Johannes Gutenberg) nothing can take its place. If the whole world begin to talk about e-book what then happens to those vast volumes and array of books that have become a permanent fixture in most homes? Even today if you go to the homes of some of those rich people around town you notice their big sitting room with impressive lines of books, encyclopaedias, atlases and other resource and reference books. In fact, books have become part of the major dressing for homes. So, if e-books become the new deal what happens to such homes? How do we display the number of books we have acquired, not necessarily read?
Recently, Nigeria’s Booker Prize winning writer, Ben Okri and some other writers have embarked on a new venture, well, not too new. It is called audio book. This is not e-book but audio! This is one genre of book I run away from because I don’t consider it as one. It is like listening to music. Can you claim to have read a book if you listened to it? A book is meant to be read and not listened to!
Okri and other writers are said to have ‘written’ the short stories exclusively for the audio channel and it is to be broadcast exclusively on Audible owned by the world’s biggest online retail store – Amazon. The writer of the novel The Famished Road, whose short audio story is entitled The Multiverse Murder, has demonstrated some excitement with this new experiment. According to him, “Writing this story for audio was an irresistible challenge and unmitigated medium for the imagination. The Multiverse Murder is my first crime story and reveals unexpected possibilities. I loved the whole experience.”
This idea of audio book takes us back to the days of our forefathers. Is the world not returning to the ways our parents told stories in those days, the same thing we have lost and thrown to the dumpsite? Is this not a return of our tales with the difference that it is recorded and not like those of our forebears which were just told without being recorded?
To me, the book still holds the ace. What about you?
