The Book Thief

In one of my favorite books, The Book Thief, the protagonist, Liesel, a young Jewish girl in Nazi Germany, steals a book that had fallen into a grave dug for her brother. The Grave Digger's Handbook. This begins her love of reading and words. I thought about that today. Would she have become passionate about words if she had first seen them on a flat impersonal screen, void of tactile stimulation, the feel of paper as she turns each cherished page with her adolescent fingers. Would she have discovered the value of literature and find her own voice during the terror and uncertainties that encompassed her world? If she had held a Nook or a Kindle in the palm or her small hand, would that have deposited the same desire for words? My favorite bookstore (other than Powell's) is declaring bankruptcy. When I received an email from Border's President and CEO, reassuring me that they were operating as usual, suspicion draped my mind. Was this a ploy to gain an entire online audience? Will I still be able to browse the aisles, touch book jackets, turn to the back cover, and peruse the author's photograph and bio? I love books. I love the musky smell of a beloved novel as I flip through the pages, perhaps blowing dust into the atmosphere. Sometimes I re-read a favorite paragraph or chapter and an elfin sigh escapes from the happy place inside. A friend of mine has a Nook. She said you can read and multi-task, "Isn't that great!" I don't know what else I would like to do while reading a good book, other than sip on my favorite espresso or a glass of Pinot Gris. Literature was Liesel's escape from a bleak life and she wrote a book herself. With the popularity of online shopping and ebooks, I wonder how many adolescents will share Liesel's passion for words. I hope that the lure of downloading a plethora of books at whim won't in fact steal our beloved books from our eager hands. And wipe our minds free from an age-old  romance with words.