The Physicality of Books
October 25th, 2006 by Alan Chudnow
Serendipity is a funny thing. Not to long ago I wrote an entry here examining The True Worth of a Book. The post was inspired by an article I’d run across expounding the idea that the worth of a book was derived from the contents before all else. The author of the article argued that it is the words, ideas, pictures and feelings that an author evokes for the reader that provides the true substance and value of a book. The article was well written and convincing and reading it made me reflect enough to write something on the subject here at SF Bookworm.
Today I ran across another article addressing the same issue, this time exploring the physicality of books. Writer, editor and publisher Jeff VanderMeer polled over eighty authors asking them to weigh in on five questions.
- What do you most like about the book as a physical object?
- Do you have any rituals or procedures you go through after acquiring a new (or used) book? (Some writers indicate they bite or smell books.)
- Is it necessary for books to exist as physical objects in our increasingly electronic world? If so, why?
- What recent examples stand out for you as exemplar of well-designed, well-made books?
- Do you have any memory connected to books that you would like to share.
The answers are varied and interesting. For example Michael Moorcock responded to the question of books existing as physical object by saying, in part,
“I suspect that the emergence of the book as a work of art, as in the case of Savoy and others, is in response to the availability of electronic reading material. This suggests that the book will continue to be bought, alongside other methods of delivery!”
Tanith Lee recounted a memory of actually kissing a copy of a rare book she had been trying to find for over fifteen years. Shelly Jackson responded that she has a ritual of hitting herself in the mouth with each new book until she draws blood…but I suspect she was kidding.
How about you? Care to answer these questions yourself? I’d love to hear about it. I’m working on my answers and will post them a little later.
