As someone who always carries a book in my bag (yes, I
always carry a bag too), I am often advised to buy Kindle. I have myself toyed
with the idea of buying one often. Kindle is lighter, can store many books at once,
has a great battery life, saves paper etc. But there’s something that holds me
back every time my fingers hover dangerously close to the ‘Add To The Cart’ when I visit the Amazon website.
So what are the reasons one may not want to buy Kindle, despite being a book-lover? I am sure, you’ve heard the “Oh, it doesn’t feel like a real book!” argument. So I won’t go there. Let’s explore other reasons.
Books make for great conversation starters: You’re reading on the metro, lost in the magic of words, oblivious to the world around you. You don’t realise that there’s a pair of eyes secretly watching you. No, actually, it’s the title of the book that’s caught their attention. The observer comes up to you and interrupts your book-induced revery saying, “hey! That’s an amazing book you’re reading. I re-read it last week. How do you like it?” He smiles at you. A disarming smile. The Jay Gatsby kind of smile. You smile back, happy with the realisation that there are still things in the world that are prettier than the book you’re holding, and share your impressions of the book. For all one knows, few minutes later, you two may be walking off into the sunset discussing books and quoting your favourite lines. Now, can this happen with Kindle?
So what are the reasons one may not want to buy Kindle, despite being a book-lover? I am sure, you’ve heard the “Oh, it doesn’t feel like a real book!” argument. So I won’t go there. Let’s explore other reasons.
Books make for great conversation starters: You’re reading on the metro, lost in the magic of words, oblivious to the world around you. You don’t realise that there’s a pair of eyes secretly watching you. No, actually, it’s the title of the book that’s caught their attention. The observer comes up to you and interrupts your book-induced revery saying, “hey! That’s an amazing book you’re reading. I re-read it last week. How do you like it?” He smiles at you. A disarming smile. The Jay Gatsby kind of smile. You smile back, happy with the realisation that there are still things in the world that are prettier than the book you’re holding, and share your impressions of the book. For all one knows, few minutes later, you two may be walking off into the sunset discussing books and quoting your favourite lines. Now, can this happen with Kindle?
Books make for pretty
home decor: I am not sure how many of you realise the incredible power of
books to render a dull and deserted corner of your house alive and welcoming.
Just stack up a few books against the wall, throw in a large floor cushion or a
beanbag, hang a pendant lamp—and you’ve just made your room awesome! Some book-covers are so exquisite that they can rival art objects easily. Use them well
and see your space turn Oh-so-classy! Can you do that with Kindle?
Books speak for you: When
someone comes over to your place for the first time and looks at your books,
they get a sense of person you are without your having to say it. Your books
open a tiny window through which one can peek into your personality. Your taste
in books speaks for your outlook towards life. Then by asking you which are
your favourite ones, the highly recommended ones, the ones which you didn’t
like as much, they can fine-tune their understanding of your weltenschauung.
All the books laid out there on your shelf have a little bit of you preserved
between their pages. If one is perceptive enough one can read into your
personality, to a reasonable degree, by reading the titles gracing your
book-shelf. I am not sure if someone on their visit to your house may want to
ask you to open your Kindle for them so that they may see the titles you own.
(On a related note, those who don’t notice your books, aren’t worth being
invited second time round. Just saying!)
Kindle is expensive: Actually, I am poor. There! I said it. So maybe if you’re thinking what to buy me this Diwali, I have already made your life easier. You can thank me later. After I have thanked you for your generosity, that is. Don’t worry, I will make do with the amazing benefits that physical books come with. We HAVE to save trees. Remember!
Kindle is expensive: Actually, I am poor. There! I said it. So maybe if you’re thinking what to buy me this Diwali, I have already made your life easier. You can thank me later. After I have thanked you for your generosity, that is. Don’t worry, I will make do with the amazing benefits that physical books come with. We HAVE to save trees. Remember!
OK! So here's the thing. Well you've brilliantly broken down the reasons for not buying a kindle but I would really like to enlighten you on the "Kindle is expensive" part of the blog. You might think that the Kindle is expensive, to the contrary it is actually a better investment than buying books in regular stores or anywhere else for that matter because if you take a look at some of the expensive hard books most of the time you can find a comparatively inexpensive counterpart of the same book in the kindle store. I would have posted an example for reference but i also don't usually do comments. But its really easy to observe if you go shopping on the amazon book store.
ReplyDeleteSo in the long run you will actually get your money's worth. My friend actually got its complete worth out of just one single purchase of a very expensive book which was actually cheap on the kindle store.
But still, loved your take on the "Books speak for you part"
Always enjoy reading your posts.
Thank you for following the posts, Kunal. I am sure for the really expensive books, going the Kindle way is more efficient. I wrote this in a lighter vein. I shall keep in mind your suggestion nevertheless.
DeleteKeep reading! :)
This was fun!
ReplyDelete