#39 Books

When I was younger, I was a little scared of books.
They were all terribly impressive after all.
They contained worlds I could never understand.
Words I could never hope to comprehend.
Books were almost a symbol of adulthood in their way.
A tangible path to maturity,
They were powerful.

Very powerful.

I learnt about books leading men to war.
Growing up a Christian I was taught about one very powerful book indeed.
And there are similar texts which command similar authority.
Books which controlled nations.

There was also the personal level on which they had power,
JK Rowling created a brand new world in books,
A world I spent more of my life than was probably healthy in.

I was taught at school that some books were more powerful than others.
That by studying them, I could tame them.
So study I did. And the more I did so, the tamer that book became.
But books in general were still to be respected.

I read every book I could. Some more than once.
I absorbed other worlds. And they absorbed me.
There started to be a lot of books I had to read.
Yet still, I battled on.

But then the world started to change.
The world went online. And books had to go with them.

While for some this change was welcomed,
I guess I found myself very much part of the old skule school.

They no longer had a physical presence.
I could dismiss huge texts in a second.
There was just too much in one place.
Far too much to ever read.

I felt a disconnect from the author.
A disconnect from the words.
Sometimes, even a disconnect from the world within.

Books have lost their power.
I have tamed them, but the victory is Pyrrhic.
A victory I had never sought.
But the world moves on. I just wonder where it will move on next...