BtVS Ficlet: Tangibility

[bk_forever]

Title: Tangibility

Fandom: BtVS

Author: badly_knitted

Characters: Giles

Rating: G

Spoilers: Small for I Robot, You Jane.

Summary: Giles has a passion for books that goes beyond their contents.

Word Count: 185

Written For: doreyg’s prompt ‘Any, Any, the smell of musty old books,’ at fic_promptly.

Disclaimer: I don’t own BTVS, or the characters. They belong to Joss Whedon.

Giles likes books. It’s not just because of the information they contain, although that’s certainly part of it; all of man’s knowledge, for good or bad, has been written down in their pages, and much of it is vital to humanity’s continued existence.

But there’s more to a book than merely its contents. Books are solid and real, they have weight, and texture, and a smell that is uniquely there own. There’s the clean, fresh, paper and ink smell when opening a new book that has never been read before; the deeper, more lingering, accumulated scents of a book that has been handled and read over and over by many people; and the dry, musty smell of dust and mildew that imbues old books that sit on shelves and are rarely opened.

Books are like people, you never know what you’ll find until you spend time with them, and some become valued friends.

As far as Giles is concerned, computers, useful though they might be, will never replace the tangibility, the texture and smell of books. In order to retain knowledge, it should be smelly.

The End

Comments

"Smelly Books"

[vantiri.livejournal.com]

I agree: knowledge should be to some degree or another at least a bit concrete, it should have substance, and not merely be little dots of light on a screen- one reason why I print up the fanfic stories I am interested in reading.
Sincerely;
Vantiri.

Re: "Smelly Books"

[bk_forever]

I do read fanfic online, but I'd far rather have a book in my hands the rest of the time. It feels more real.

Thank you.

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

I vividly remember that scene where he was explaining why he loved books so much. He was so right. There are some books who become dear friends and others merely pass through our lives without consequence.

[bk_forever]

Precisely! I surround myself with my book-friends, they are greatly treasured.

Giles was a guy after my own heart.

Thank you.