CHAOS BEFORE PREDICTABILITY

After the British Library announced it would be making 65,000 works of 19th C fiction available for free as eBooks, I did momentarily succumb to the lure of virtual reading material. However, it has occurred to me there is one thing that they will never replace, whatever fancy technological wizardry Apple, Amazon or Sony throws at me.

That’s the feeling as the pages build up one after the other in your left hand, as they rapidly decline in your right. In a way, this simple detail provides a satisfying sense of progress – a physical indication of where I am in the story. It’s a small issue, though it feels important.

In a way, whilst scrolling through page after page, I can’t shake off the feeling that I’m engaged in deciphering the world’s longest SMS. And even after 400 pages, my hands will know no difference from the first, other than perhaps a slight tiredness of having held up the device a number of hours.

This obviously isn’t the only aspect that can’t be imitated, obviously. Such as the feel and smell of paper, the space-munching book collection and so on. But, it’s something I wouldn’t want to be without. Like missing a toe or having no ketchup.

It doesn’t mean I won’t be trying them out though. Especially to take advantage of the first editions. But whilst reading, my mind will be fantasising about the more fulfilling allure of a papery touch.