Losing Anticipation of the End
A book with physical dimension lets the reader know how many more
pages are left by touch and sight. Sometimes a thin right half and a thick left
one leads to excited anticipation of the end – or climax – or it warns the
reader of the impending conclusion of their favorite series.
On a logical level,
e-books let the reader know how many pages are in the book, but what about the
emotional experience of holding the remaining pages and feeling how light they
are? A reader trades this upper-dimension awareness – which is almost like
precognition – for the convenience of a smartphone or tablet, a device many
people carry anyway. The turning of a page is deliberation, while the scrolling
of a mouse is speed and efficiency. Gravitas
becomes something holding back progress.
Knowing a book will soon
end is a more involved experience than only knowing about the page number of
the book. The physical journey through a book unties a mystical connection
between audience and book when the book is set as data inside of a screen, as
words abstracted from the physical world.
As the five senses
dwindle down to one that counts – sight – readers may see with their eyes, but
not truly feel the weight of the work and the effort that went into it.
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