The books of the future

“Books are living things and their task lies in their vows of silence. You touch them as they quiver with a divine pleasure. You read them and they fall asleep to happy dreams for the next ten years. If you do them the favor of understanding them, of taking in their portions of grief and wisdom, then they settle down in contented residence in your heart. “

Pat Conroy

While Conroy waxes lyrical on the virtues of book reading, a new wave of reading them is slowly washing over us. No more will books be simply words on a page bound within lovingly crafted covers taking the readers to wondrous places and climes. The books of the future that are now emerging will be far more than mere words.

Imagine if you will that when you read a book about a far away place, you can not only read the authors descriptions but, if you so want, you can actually see the place by clicking a little sign by the side of the ebook page. Or if the author seeks to evoke the beauty and music of the place, a click could transform you through a video or a musical interlude#. Reading Shakespeare can now be more than the words of the bard- you could now actually hear Lawrence Oliver speak those immortal words “ To be or not to be.” *Or if the sights are to be made real, perhaps a click could emanate the smells of these places as well. Reading a book then could be a total sensory experience.

Of course, this would mean that the authors of the future would have to work twice as hard in not only putting words on paper but also collecting the sights and sounds they so describe. Good writing is the hardest form of thinking. It involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into the tight-fitting uniform of language, making them visible and clear. Great words, arranged with cunning and artistry, could change the perceived world for some readers. There is no passion more rewarding than reading itself, that it remains the best way to dream and to feel the sheer carnal joy of being fully and openly alive. But now it is possible to go beyond mere words.

But think of the new ways this innovation could change our lives. I was watching the growth of my grandson from the day he was born. Imagine if you could write a book, which chronicled his life day by day, which showed his physical growth, which recorded his first words, which saw him grow from an infant to a strapping young man with his own aspirations and ambitions. No more simple albums for his life but rather an active recorded life instead.

Or imagine that you want your grandson to know his ancestors. In the past this would be through a few blurred photographs or faded memories, but now with these new ebooks, he could actually hear and see you. He could hear your sage advice as he plunged into his life. He could hear your counsel in times of trouble and feel that he was part of continuum of the life of his family.


The real beauty of the ebook will be that you the reader can determine if you simply want to read the book or if you want to have total immersion with sound, vision and even video.