3.04.2011

You can press it to your bosom. You can carry it in your pocket.


"I still love books. Nothing a computer can do can compare to a book. You can’t really put a book on the Internet. Three companies have offered to put books by me on the net, and I said, ‘If you can make something that has a nice jacket, nice paper with that nice smell, then we’ll talk.’ All the computer can give you is a manuscript. People don’t want to read manuscripts. They want to read books. Books smell good. They look good. You can press it to your bosom. You can carry it in your pocket."

-Ray Bradbury

Photo via LA Times

11 comments:

  1. Nice quote. Bradbury is a renowned hater of technology though. According to him, we all missed the point of Fahrenheit 451. That was supposed to be about how technology is soiling the sacred nature of books.

    Oh well, I still like good ol' Ray (especially since a reader compared me to him)...and my meaning to his stories.

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  2. Ben, I should reread Fahrenheit 451 - I read it in high school and don't remember any of it except for the burning of books. Ray is a classy guy :)

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  3. Always been a big fan of Bradbury. Actually met him a few years ago when he was in Chicago. It is just me, or do all the great ones have all the best quotes? Maybe that's why they're great, because they "get it".

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  4. I agree. I'm reading a first edition of a book published in 1934 -- an ebook just couldn't compare to that.

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  5. Dan, You're right. Bradbury is an author who "gets it".

    Karen, I've yet to read an ebook... glad you are enjoying your print edition :)

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  6. I like that Bradbury used the word "bosom."

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  7. Greg, Me too. Also, you're awesome :)

    Avid Reader, It's a keeper.

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  8. Great quote!! I do read ebooks but there's no comparison. Only other readers can understand the smell. :)

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  9. Bradbury has such eloquence - even when I disagree with him, I love his words! I have no qualms with eBooks but I still like the sentimentality for books that this quote conveys.

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  10. Love this quote! Love Ray Bradbury! Bradbury, you beauty :)

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