April 23 celebrates books which open for us worlds through words. The occasion deserves this ceremonious celebration. April 23 marks both the birth (given the baptism certificate on April 26) and the death anniversary of Shakespeare, the ultimate wordsmith in English who, in addition to his great creative output, coined any number of English words still very much in use. No wonder, April 23 is also celebrated as the English language day.
Actually currently both, books and the publication industry, are facing tough times. Apparently, book exhibitions overflow with countless customers, and books are sold not by dozens, but by tons and quintals. Are these 'real', that is, authentic books though? Most often not. They are the DIY stuff in very many fields.
May be, in our times invaded by emojis and by reels of all sorts, even such a read, whatever be the platform, hard-bound to Kindle, needs to be tom-tom-ed! Yet do such books energise either the intellect, the heart or the soul of the reader? Hardly! Instead, such DIY books of all sorts encourage the reader to be a passive, nay, brainless consumer of goods that fatten capitalism.
What do true, good, committed books do? Without any overt propaganda/agenda, instead through their own word and narrative powers, they sensitise the reader, they awaken the reader, their words create worlds that expose all the injustices, inequities, imbalances of our ever incomplete existences hankering after possible perfections.
In today's post-truth(s) era of paid publication of an instant book the AI 'writes', anybody and everybody pretends to be an author so much so that there are many many more writers than there are readers! Hence on this world book day, yet again the need of a conscientious reader in search of a genuine author! Long live authors whose words make worlds!
Pratima@ Given all such realities, my daily blog and now the "soupçon" are my small little affirmations of words making/un-making/re-making worlds. Believe me though, I read a lot, too. Even the reels I may watch are deeply intellectual. They are never for "entertainment, entertainment, entertainment" alone!
Quote of the day: "Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived," asserts Matt Haig.
Word of the day: bibliophile A bibliophile is an individual who deeply loves, admires, and frequently collects books. The word is made of two units, biblio (books) and phile (love-r). Often referred to as a "book lover" or "bookworm," a bibliophile may focus, explains Cambridge Dictionary, on collecting rare, antique, or beautifully bound editions, though the term generally applies to anyone with a strong passion for reading (and owning) books.
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