Zen Pencils by Gavin Aung Than for November 01, 2013
Transcript:
What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object, made from a tree with flexible parts, on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head. Directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions. Binding together people who never knew each other. Citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. -Carl Sargan
Ida No about 11 years ago
Twitter, on the other hand, is the overwhelming counter-proof.
Lyons Group, Inc. about 11 years ago
And the people who wrote how they live would very disappointed how people in this era read about theirlives ( i-books, kindle, etc). I wouldn’t.
gorbag about 11 years ago
I’m not sure about the “binding together” part. You may know what they want you to know of them, but they don’t know anything about you.
Michael Thorton about 11 years ago
@Zen PencilsGavin-sama, this brought back so many memories…
Speaking as a writer and as a sad, lonely geek, when I was in school, I had a very difficult time. People would bully me and steal my lunch. Throughout six years of school, from junior high till graduation, I never had a thing to eat.
To forget my hunger, I went to the only place in the school where I could be alone: the school library with its vast array of books. Yellowed old classics, ratty James Bonds, vast arrays of Indian writers, the occasional Star Wars novel…and Pollyanna.
Books are, were and will be the mainstay of my life. I despise e-books and Kindles because they take everything writers work for and reduce it to less than cheap newsprint.
Everyone on this website should take the initiative to read at least one good book a day. Particularly kids.
no1scouse about 11 years ago
And there are billions and billions of them……
j2p2 about 11 years ago
Great quote and great art!!! I was sure it was Bradbury until the very end…
jay_dallas about 11 years ago
But there is something so satisfying in the holding of the book, the turning of the pages and, when you’re done, closing it and being able to see what you’ve read.
romillysmom about 11 years ago
..as for e-books and kindles……did you know that it is buried in the agreement somewhere that they reserve the right to delete, revise, or edit any book you “buy”…once you own a physical book the words are “yours” in their original, intended form.
romillysmom about 11 years ago
….unless Fahrenheit 451 becomes reality.
chromosome Premium Member about 11 years ago
I read books any way I can get them. I read real books, e-books and audiobooks!
tigerchik32 about 11 years ago
Hear,hear.
Ushindi about 11 years ago
Agree, st2. As you’re aware, I have hundreds of purchased hardbound books in my library, but I love my Nook and will never give it up, any more than I would throw away my regular library.And here’s another plug for Project Gutenberg; Edgar Rice Burroughs, Louisa May Alcott, H. Rider Haggard, Jules Verne, the three Bronte sisters – all and more available at P-G, completely free for downloading. Usually in both EPUB and Kindle, as well as plain text (for those without an electronic reader). Some available as audio books, also.OK – I’ll shut up now.
Michelle Morris about 11 years ago
Nice selection!
emptc12 about 11 years ago
In response to the question of future information technology, Isaac Asimov once described the features of an excellent playback system: It would be compact and thus easy to carry, yet hold a large amount of information. It would be cheap to make, and require little power to operate. It would be quiet and not infringe on others’ privacy. You could stop and start at will, and pick up exactly where you left off. And behold, it was already invented long ago – a book.
emptc12 about 11 years ago
I was reading a passage from a book written in the 1700s, a vivid description of a yawn – and I yawned. I thought, “Whoa, how cool. Could the author have imagined he would so directly touch a reader nearly 300 years in the future?”
Ida No about 11 years ago
I’m going to change my comment.“Twitter is the underwhelming counter-proof.”
Supercat Premium Member over 4 years ago
Behold, the power of books!