Online World of Books
Whoever predicted that the internet would spell the end for the printed word has seriously underestimated the passion and power which tie Britons to their books. In a nation with an extensive, rich literary tradition and a colourful history of journalistic prowess, the internet is now a source for great books rather than a scourge of them. Shopping online, browsing the various websites, be they for rarities and poetry on ABEbooks or biographies and classics with superstore chains, has never been easier. Why not reach for a Dickens rather than the TV guide next time you are looking for some entertainment?
Perhaps one of the key reasons that critics felt the print industry would be threatened by the internet is the time-and-effort factor. Indeed, the loss of some of the country’s most fascinating and obscure independent bookshops has largely come about thanks to the ability of advertising companies to convince consumers that everything can and therefore should be instant, easy and innumerable. The joy of reading is that you decide what you get out of the experience: work with the book, and the book will work with you, revealing more secrets and ideas the more you delve. It’s a cheesy line, but don’t judge a book by its cover, however much today’s culture seems to encourage us to do so.
So don’t let the internet anaesthetise your engagement with literature. In reality the web provides a massive online library at your fingertips, with wells of information which can help you to find the texts which really pique your interest. And above all, buying books online is not just for university professors and English students. It is for everyone. If you are strapped for ideas for presents, but still trying to get the weekly shop sorted, try Asda books for a range of biographies and fiction, and browse the book sections whilst ordering the groceries.
Getting involved in the world of literature is about more than reading Big Brother celebrities’ ghost-written biographies. It is about discovering people and places which exist somewhere beyond the imagination. Buy online and allow yourself and your friends to enjoy the printed word, a community as secret and inspiring as the island in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which prompted the heroine Miranda to marvel: ‘O brave new world/That has such people in’t’.