My daughter went to the release party for the new Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, Friday night at Borders. She had a blast. There were total strangers bonding over character dissections, the overpriced iced coffee in the cafe, and whether or not they thought the movie would be any good.
There were also frenzied groupies screaming in the parking lot. "Oh My God, this is the best book EVAAAHHHH!"
"SECONDED!"
"WOOOOHOOOO!"
She and her best friend had so much fun, and have had their noses stuck in the pages all weekend. Which leads me to ask:
Is the printed page truly going the way of the dodo, as has often been prophesied? If it is, then how could a book warrant this kind of fangurl squeeing? Especially from the text message-OMG-LOL-will not capitalize my i's-generation, who supposedly have the attention span of a gnat?
I will admit I do not understand people who hate reading. I'm sure they have their reasons; one friend of mine said it was because she couldn't take just sitting there. She got anxious if she just sat for too long. Nevermind that she and I could have an Antonio Banderas marathon with no problem.
But if Twilight and the Harry Potter phenomenon and even the Left Behind series (they had to build a 2,500 square foot warehouse just for the release of the last book) are any indication, books aren't going anywhere soon. Maybe it's just with all the competition, they have to be better.
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5 comments:
I don't think books will ever completely go away. However I do worry that someday we'll have a Fahrenheit 451 situation arise and I'll be the one stuffing books in my walls, hiding all that objectionable stuff from the "firemen".
Another thing that bugs me is how dependent people are becoming on other people telling them what's good to read. I feel like I can make my own decisions, you know? I don't need a celebrity choosing my pasttimes for me. (Take that, Oprah!)
I'd die without books. I love getting lost in them.
I think parents just need to shut the TV off and put the electronics away for a bit. I'm certainly not against them, put a gentle push in a good books direction could be the start of something wonderful.
Beth, there always seems to be some celebrity whose job it is to make me feel inadequate about something. While I like reviews as much as the next person, there is nothing like walking through the store and finding a treasure all on your own.
Alice, my kids were destined to read. By genetics or by force, they didn't have a choice! When they were little, we were broke, so the library was our main source of entertainment.
Like Mark Twain ( I think) said about his demise, some rumours are a little premature.
Bernita, makes me think the pundits are like hypochondriacs- a few sniffles means they have two weeks left to live.
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