Books Will Never be Replaced Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Books Will Never be Replaced What is it about a book, the physical book, the tangible reincarnation of an author that allows us to believe it will continue to be revered and regarded even in our age of computerized information? How can we be sure that, just as the clay tablet gave way to the scroll and bound book, the faith we have placed in paper editions will not be improved upon with the microchip? It may be that for all our attempts to squeeze and shrink information into screens, to encapsulate a world of knowledge into the size of a suitcase, to create a communications device which is always targeted at fitting into the palm of one's hand, there exists a hand-held favorite already which has worked itself inextricably into the human consciousness. The book is too close to our minds, hearts and hands to be replaced. When Ovid, the scurrilous Roman poet, fell out of favor with Caesar and was exiled to one of the far and rainy reaches of the empire, he put his faith in a book. He sent a volume of his poems from exile back to the city of Rome for publication and the possible vindication of his name. According to his opening lines, he sent it like a son: Little book, you're off to town without me, wet behind the ears (your ink is hardly dry). Enjoy it. I can't go. Papa's not allowed. Ovid insisted that a book could represent him and the sorrows of banishment to the emperor. The clever pun of which Ovid was probably aware was that the Latin word for book (liber) was close to the word for children (liberi). Whether Caesar appreciated the humor or not, his decree never wavered. Ovid lived the remainder of his life on the Black Sea, never able to return to the city that made him great, leaving only his book-child to b... ...it would be easier for a mother to forsake her child than for humanity to part with the passion for its paperbound twin-image. Technology has yet to produce the book's equal because it has approached the hand-held counterpart with hopes of improving speed, providing variety, expanding capability. But the book is and has always been a retreat of sorts, a stepping back for contemplation rather than a rapacious scramble for information. The book, more human symbol now than a silent reality on a shelf, will remain the quiet and palpable meditation between the hand, the head, and the heart. Sources cited: Abrams, M. H.. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W & W Norton & Company, 1993. Gwynn, R.S.. Poetry. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1993. Slavitt, David. Ovid's Poetry of Exile. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.