San Francisco Day 2: The Literary Revolution

I'm fascinated by books. I mean, I am an English major. I love the stories and ideas, sure, but even more than that, I love the experience of reading the book. The feel of the pages between my fingers, the suncreeny smell of the paper after a day at the beach, and the discovery of annotations from previous readers. Books are unique because they can be passed from one person to another, spreading ideas and creating a dialogue between people and generations, bringing people together. Unfortunately, today there is a rift among the book-loving community, specifically over one recent development - the e-reader. Many book lovers claim that these devices are ruining the integrity of reading, taking away the tactile experience of a book and replacing it with just another screen we stare at during the day. Other book lovers claim that e-readers are great for the book world, making huge libraries available to us with just a single click. My second day in San Francisco made me realize that I think these two mentalities can, and should, live harmoniously.

I did get bitten by the Peace, Love, Can't-We-All-Just-Be-Friends, California Bug, didn't I?

I love e-readers. Kindles. iPads. I think they're great. I love that I can throw my iPad in my bag and have three books, and then I can choose what to read depending on how I'm feeling. I can also sample a book for free, without having to actually go the the bookstore, and I can read an 800 page hardback book without the physical toll of carrying around an 800 page book.

Jack and I went the the City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco on Saturday - a Mecca for lit-lovers. The store is small with creaky stairs, clever posters, and probably hundreds of prints of Allen Ginsberg lining the walls. While roaming through the stacks, I found one of the best books I think I have ever seen. It is the reason that paper books will continue to be made, and is the true marriage of literature and art. The book is Jonathan Safran Foer's Tree of Codes, and it is a novel adapted from Bruno Schulz's The Street of Crocodiles. Safran Foer basically took The Street of Crocodiles and went at it with an Exacto knife, literally carving out an entirely new story.

I haven't finished reading it, but it did make me put down my iPad in the airport. I just love that in the midst of technology taking over the book world, gems like this are still popping up. My suggestion would be to put down your e-reader for the weekend and pick up this book, if just to marvel at the feeling of reading it. Then pass it on to a friend. People should see this book.