Asking why people will continue to want to read when entertainment and information are freely available via moving images and audio is like asking why people would ever want to walk or run when there are less effortful forms of transport. We like the exercise; and its results.
And I don't mean just decoding words and sentences. A novel interacts with its reader; the imagination supplies much of the content; discovery, thesis and synthesis all happen, and people enjoy this (at least some of us do).
Of all our creations, the written word is the most magical, courtesy of its imaginative scope.
Now, I am not one to disdain a screen of any size. Among the most treasured memories of my medical student years are late night double bills (Frankenstein and BladeRunner) at Glasgow's Grosvenor cinema, and our trusty DVD player has coaxed us through many of the darker days this past Swiss year. But a movie, requiring less investment, rarely has the sticking power of a book - you just don't value what you haven't paid for.
10 years ago
