In reading the insightful, thought-provocative exploration into huge questions about earth’s origins and place in the world, I found Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Cosmic Queries to be an inspiration for today’s blog post.
Whereas the author explores the entire spectrum of life and wonders how and why it came to be, I would like to raise some big questions about books:
·
Why do we have books?
·
What’s the purpose of a
writer?
· Is there a time and place beyond the existence of books or writers?
Books do not lack an origin story. We know how books came to be and evolved from manuscript, writings, and even cave paintings. Humans have used symbols and sounds to communicate for many, many generations. Eventually that history was handed down, recorded and shared with others. Books in other forms, existed way before movable type or any kind of printing press were around.
It is, however, unclear, exactly how and when humans obtained the ability to form languages that were used to share stories. History’s remains only tell us so much. We don’t have all that was ever recorded. We know a lot more about Earths formation billions of years ago than we do of humans much beyond 10,000 years ago.
But putting aside the details of speech formation and our ability to write and record ideas and facts, let’s look at the bigger picture for a moment.
Why do we have books? Do we still need them? If they are not needed, what becomes of writers?
Books at least impart are being written now with the aid of computer software terms of editors can clean up these bits and bytes the human element of writing is no longer pure. Could it be a dying art?
Will we reach a point where there are enough books, where every viewpoint, fantasy, and * has been explored to the furthest possible detail?
Could something replace books? The internet poses a huge challenge. It can piece together context from a variety of sources and formats that could rival a book in size and space. Search for topic x and you see blogs, podcasts, movies, news articles, videos, and all kinds of information pop up, is that a book?
Could humans evolve, due to tragedy or scientific manipulation, that we no longer are able to consume books-or where we enhance our senses and skills to the point we become computerized or obtain powers that exceed anything we’d get from reading a book?
If or when books become obsolete, does this mean the role of a writer changes, even gets obliterated? Will future generations ask: “What’s an author”?
If this were to happen – any of it -- we’d all be long dead. I think. I hope.
It’s unfathomable to live a life with and for books, to then be stripped of the thing that informs, defines, and serves my very essence and reason for being.
On the other hand, it would have to be something pretty amazing, powerful, and rewarding if books were to be obliterated and moved to the recycle bin nearest you. I guess what replaces it would be wonderful, right?
Not so fast.
The grass is not always greener on the other side. Books are wonderful at inspiring, entertaining, and enlightening us. They connect us to one author to the past and even allow us to escape our reality or help us understand and, define, and deal with, maybe even enhance the way we see the world now.
Books open up the imagination, help us develop a political voice, transfer values and knowledge to one another, and allow us to never feel alone. Books allow us to live hundreds or thousands of lives, without taking a risk, burning a bridge, or even suffering more than a paper cut in the process. Books are our friends, therapists, clergy, business partners, lovers, and heroes. They help define who we are and sows who we can be, Books must always be here in the journey.
August 9th is National Book Lovers Day !
Here’s How You Can Celebrate:
1.
Buy books from an independent store
2.
Read lots of books
3.
Donate books
4.
Gift books to others
5.
Talk about books as often as you would movies or
sports
6.
Form a book club
7.
Volunteer at a literacy center
8.
Visit a library
9.
Encourage schools to give out more book reading
assignments
10. Defend free
speech, especially for authors of all books
Have you told someone you love books? Tell them. Show them. Encourage them to do so.
Need Book PR Help?
Brian
Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell
their book, and grow their brand. He has 30 years of experience in helping
thousands of authors in all genres.
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About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This
is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he
now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab
rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and
IBPA’s The Independent. This was named one of the best book
marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com
as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity
for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.
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