| BOOKS, REVISITED By Diane Wells |
| [This article was also published in the March/April 2004 Issue of ARTSbeat] An inevitable and perhaps uneasy alliance is gradually being forged between the world of technology and the world of literature, but at what cost it is hard to say. Both Ray Bradbury and George Orwell (a.k.a. Eric Arthur Blair) wrote books (Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, respectively) warning of the potential conquest over mankind�s freedom of speech and thought through high-tech manipulation. Both men were well ahead of their time, as 1984 was published in 1949 and Fahrenheit 451, in 1953), originally published as a short story entitled The Fireman. Ironically, both classics eventually made it to the silver screen (for those who could not be bothered reading them?). Just as St. Valentine is hailed as one of the most famous letter-writers (romance is still a multi-billion dollar industry), Bill Gates stands as his successor in the world of electronics. Despite the condensed-version format so widely demanded by multi-tasking Internet users and their continually diminishing attention spans, I�d like to believe there is still a large segment of society that wants �the whole story�. Conversely, I just read an epic tome of over 850 pages (Gordon Sheppard�s HA!), which I found both physically and mentally daunting (that book was �heavy� in every sense of the word). Whether you get your news from Yahoo, Hotmail, the Hamilton Spectator or the Globe & Mail, it is still incumbent to make one�s own analysis and conclusions. All reading is beneficial and should be encouraged in every way, shape or form. So, how is the bookselling industry faring in the Greater Hamilton Region? For a city of this size, I would have expected a much higher representation of retail outlets, but let�s take a look at what is here. Out of the two dozen bookstores listed variously in the 701 Gold Book and Bell Canada�s Yellow Pages, the two vying for the most attention are Bryan Prince Bookseller in Westdale and The Bookworm (Westdale or Brantford), the latter of which boasts a large collection of science fiction, military and romantic literature. Coles the Book People (I�m dying to put a comma after �Coles�!) has shops in both Jackson Square and on Upper Wentworth Street. Other centrally located stores are Allan Petteplace Bookseller on King William Street, which also offers framing services, and Gomorrah Books on Locke Street. I have not yet gotten up the courage to enter the latter, but my curiosity will eventually get the better of me! While BC Decker specializes in medical matters and Women�s Bookstop in feminism, there are numerous secular bookstores in the city, e.g. Harvest Time Bibles Christian Bookstore in Stoney Creek and an intriguingly-named 21st Century Archeology Science & The Scriptures in Burlington. Waterdown has Pickwick Books and Ancaster apparently has a Chapters bookstore on Golf Links Road. A Dundas bookstore that takes its wide-ranging merchandise (new, used and rare) seriously enough to offer special-order services is Chapman Books, situated on Cross Street. Speaking of used or rare books, in my own neighbourhood of James Street South, there is a used-book store called Mike�s World of Books. I have visited this cozy shop several times and bought children�s and teens� stories and musical biographies. Both Bryan Prince Bookseller and The Bookworm have embraced the Internet with websites of their own - www.princebooks.net and www.thebookworm.ca, respectively - offering staff book reviews (now, that�s what I call overtime!) and notices of new book releases. My personal favourite is Readers Caf� in Dunnville, which triples as a restaurant and concert venue. Sadly, there is no counterpart to this in central Hamilton yet. For a listing of bookstores throughout Ontario, visit www.booksforeverybody.com. For fun, visit www.getcaughtreading.ca! |
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