Post #2 What is a Book?

A book is a way to see the world from a new point of view, whether it’s the author' or a characters' point of view. I agree with Joe Meno in that a book is a place and it isn’t always about what form it's in, but the story itself. Each book is like a fingerprint, no two are exactly the same.  Books offer different worlds, characters, real-life stories, and allow us to explore our imagination, which is what makes them so unique. I do think some electronic books are missing something, but not all of them. If the book is a work of art, a complex fingerprint, the hard copy is needed, and adds to the book as a whole. Something about holding a book and feeling, smelling and reading the pages of an amazing book adds to the whole experience of reading, as opposed to reading it electronically. Some stories though are just as good electronically as in hard cover; it’s when the book is special to you, personally, that the hard copy is the more magical of the two. With this said I don't exactly agree with Tom Piazza who made his point clear on how much he detests electronic books. He says "it's an anti-world. The computer's ambition is to transcend point of view completely." I disagree with this comment because of the fact that I have had personal experience with e-books, I own a Nook, and I still find books and stories enjoyable. The electronic world is not an "anti-world" it's a whole world all in its own. It is a very different world, and at first it is hard to get used to, but it's where the real world is heading and there's nothing anybody can do to stop it. I do believe we should still keep and make physical copies of books, but I think eventually, everything will be electronic. The electronic world is something everybody, including books, will have to get used to.