PORTABLE MAGIC: A HISTORY OF BOOKS AND THEIR READERS

Author: Emma Smith

The debate on whether e-books will replace physical books is a tired one. The truth is that e-books have largely tried to replicate the experience of reading physical books without being able to completely replace it. This is because the book is an object that has accumulated symbolic value throughout history, beyond and in excess of its content. They are ritualistic, talismanic, venerated, censored, burned, sweared upon, and used as props. The e-book, which privileges and dematerialises content exclusively over form, can never hope to attain the same aura and vitality of physical books.