Few objects are as perfect as a paper book. There are elements in our life that cannot be improved, such as scissors, a spoon, a paper clip, a hammer or a book. It will be said that the digital book can be bought at any time, read on any screen and does not take up space at home. But as a counterpart, it speeds up reading, isolates us little and memorizes less. The classic book is more demanding, but promises better long-term results. It is true that they take up space, but it is not necessary to keep them all. The bookcase in a home tells us almost everything about its owners. They are not only part of his life, but they build his biography.
It was a joy to see yesterday people loaded with books throughout the Catalan geography. Many may only buy one on this date, but they will always be tempted to buy another if they have chosen well. Noah Gordon, author of bestsellers, came one day for Sant Jordi and wrote one of the best love letters to Barcelona, ??where, beyond the beauty of the city, he proclaimed that he had been impressed that the symbols of the day were the fragile and ephemeral charm of flowers and the enduring treasure of imagination and ideas.
On the eve of April 23, the French newspaper Le Figaro carried on its front page its concern that young French people spend nearly six hours a day in front of screens chatting, surfing the net or watching videos, while the reading books had become testimonial. The newspaper’s warning cry was clear: reading is necessary for democracy. And they quoted the neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf, who warns that with deep reading we act more responsibly, vote with more knowledge and behave with more empathy.
Technology has profoundly changed the way we read and think, but we still have the book to instill values ??that are the support of democracy. And as Simon Leys said, between two equally competent surgeons, try to operate on the one who has read Chekhov.
