the joy of books

January 11, 2012 by thewanderlust Leave a comment

echoing a little nostalgia of yesterday’s ‘black and white’ post, here’s to the joy of books. books are  a wonderful escapism, education and travel companions.

i love a good, pristine paperback. i hate when a book is ruffled, bent or damaged in any way. having said that, i recently bought a paperback from a local second hand shop in bondi (gertrude and alice – a quirky little independent cafe/second hand bookshop) and discovered a carefree sense of freedom and permission to just throw it in my beach bag and not worry about it being bent or torn! so, all this love for a good book in hand and a staunch, ‘i’ll never use an ereader; they suck all of the joy from a reading a real book’.

that is, until i was gifted a Kindle prior to moving to Australia. a superb, incredibly thoughtful gift given the cost of print here. my attitude has been turned on its head and i am wholly surprised to say it: Yes, i am now a Kindle convert. i take my kindle everywhere in my handbag – it’s so compact, light and far harder to damage than a paperback! yet, in place of fully accepting this new fangled, really rather handy (but slightly soulless) ereader thingy, i do still read a good old paperback before bedtime. at the moment it’s Alex Wade’s ‘Surf Nation‘ on the Kindle on the ferry into work and Tom Anderson’s, ‘Grey Skies, Green Waves: A Surfer’s Journey around the UK & Ireland‘ in a traditional paperback before bed. Anderson’s book was a gift from a fellow Scottish surfer, prior to emigrating to Sydney – which brings me to another point: gifting a book is wonderful, and receiving something which will nestle into your bookshelf forever is so special. gifting a kindle book? it just doesn’t have that same tangible enjoyment, or memory, does it?

so, if like me, you cherish a good old paperback and a classical bookshop, then you’ll love this beautifully crafted stop-motion film. the soundtrack is just perfect – an orchestra conducting this wonderful library of books. i cannot imagine the time and attention which went into this, but every moment was certainly worth it. it really has been superbly crafted.

the joy of books, enjoy.