Interest in hard copies of books persists amid boom of e-books

Srinagar, Sep 17: With the advent of digitization, literature has become more accessible to people. With the ease of accessing soft copies of literature at lower prices, a large number of people, especially the younger generation are opting for the convenience of online texts and e-books.

However, there are still some enthusiastic readers who are very much interested with the current process of reading which is through the hard copy books.

Students of Kashmir University shared the idea they have about the identified literary works and the interpretations of the same. Some students claimed that reading a book or a novel is an emotional experience that requires concentration and focus.

"Reading a text is about feeling removed from the ordinary world and transported into a fictional realm, where the reader can travel through time and space," Asif Maqbool, one of the students said and argued that literature stimulates the creative minds of the readers.

When he and other students were asked as to what they feel when they read only hard copy books, they reasoned that the feeling of accomplishment that comes with reading the entire material as well as the physical experience of turning the pages coupled with the feel and smell of the paper cannot be matched by eBooks, which are read on gadgets.

Furkaan Khurshid, another student commented, that with the "highlighter feature and writing between the lines, eBooks are not as effective." In this regard, another student said, “Through literature, you are able to view the world through a speck of dust”.

The students all agreed with the eBook and online journal craze, but were worried that few youths were embracing the physical books and were not frequenting physical libraries. Furkaan fears that this trend may lead to the extinction of books.

They encouraged youth to go for books, read books, and refrain from letting books become extinct. "Contrary to the projection, hard copy books are not yet extinct as many students will prefer reading the material touch and feel of books."

"Although by using technology it has become convenient and cheap to read literature, one should not lose the feel of flipping through the pages of the book and visiting libraries."

By: Saima Shaban