Leave Your Mark

Even though I am well aware of the benefits of e-readers (they can hold every book known to man and often take up less room than the book they are replacing), I just can't quite bring myself to take the plunge and read books from them. I simply like holding actual books when I read better and, even more specific than that, I like those books to be hardcovers. I am aware this is a losing battle due to higher printing costs in a publishing industry which constantly cries about how much money they lose every year along with the fact that the news would have you believing no one reads anymore, but that has actually helped to entrench my position. My view on it is that since hardcover books are slowly going the way of the dodo bird I had better enjoy them while I can. But my spirits were lifted last night while I was riding the T and I discovered that I am far from alone in preferring paper to computer screens. Admittedly there weren't that many people reading (checking Facebook through iPhones or listen to iPods outnumbered books by about 4 to 1) but it did seem like all the people who were reading were keeping to the traditional variety. It was nice to see that the rumored demise of books had been greatly exaggerated. But while those people were united by their preference for books there was one area where they differed wildly and that was how they kept track of what page they were on.

I am well aware there is no hard and fast rule telling people how they have to keep track of what they are reading. As long as the person can get back to where they were in the book without having to reread an entire chapter that is all that matters. But thanks to working in a library through high school I have a visceral reaction when I see people turn down the corner of the page to remember where they were in their book. Not only does it weaken the paper but it also ruins the book for the next person who wants to read it because now they feel like they have to stop on that same page rather than read as far as they would like because otherwise they will be wrecking another page unnecessarily. That is why I have always used some kind of bookmark. I know there are people out there who think spending money on a bookmark is silly. I happen to agree. But when you remember that libraries also give you a receipt when you check books out the idea of bending a page seems just as pointless. Seriously, if all you want to do is make a mark of what page you were on they give you a piece of paper to do it with. But if you don't think a receipt is going to stay in place there are plenty of other ways to signal how far into the book you have read and just about all of them were on display on the train last night.

The first one to catch my eye was an older woman who had gone the extra mile of buying an official and fancy bookmark, the kind with a large tassel that is a great gift if you have a younger reader in your life. Her choice surprised me because I didn't know anyone over the age of 15 used those (once you get a little older you see that these things are kind of cumbersome and not particularly manly. After all there is a reason guys eventually stop riding bikes with streamers coming off them). It seemed like a noble choice, though her decision-making skills were called into question after I noticed this woman and her husband would also make a point of putting down their books whenever a train was coming in to the station because they apparently found the screeching of the wheels to be too loud. I guess when you are marking your place every couple of minutes having a heavy-duty bookmark makes slightly more sense but if you hate noise that much your bookmark money should probably go towards getting a car. Not ten feet away was a young college kid who was keeping his place using a playing card. I couldn't see what card it was but, call it a hunch, I can almost guarantee it was the Joker because he's a guy in college, probably saw someone in a movie do it and thinks it will make him seem deep to his female classmates. (He is probably also the kind of person who marks his golf ball on the green with a poker chip because college guys are not particularly original.) But the larger point is that these were two totally different techniques and yet both totally effective.

I expect this is the part where the people who use e-readers will point out that if you have a tablet the computer keeps track of your page for you and the entire issue of bookmarks is irrelevant. To me, that is another knock against them because I think a good bookmark is a chance to show your personality. After all, the subjects of the books we read may change but that doesn't mean the reader does, so a bookmark can be your way to bring a little personal touch to the novel. Even if you just use the receipt from the library you are still making a statement (and that statement is "I'm just here for the book"). But beyond that problem with e-readers is that because they mark the pages for you there is no incentive to keep reading. Even if I am reading a book I don't like I can power my way to the end simply by telling myself that there are only 100 pages to go or knowing how many more paragraphs to get to the end of a chapter. I know it's a stupid thing but for some reason my brain likes exact page numbers more than knowing I am 60% of the way through the story. I'm not saying that if you don't like paper books you shouldn't be reading just that I'll read by way, you read yours and there is no need to put our opinions on each other. Unless, of course, I catch you bending the page of a book because if I see you doing that you are guaranteed to hear from me.