Do Books Have Souls?

[arewenearlythere]

An interesting topic I found in another forum...Do all books have souls?

 

Quote: "I am in the middle of reading a really interesting book and in it a chap tells his son that all books have a soul and that every person that reads them leaves a bit of their soul/spirit in there to be passed on to the next person. Interesting concept, never though of books having a soul before!" MC - Healthy Pages Forum

[Nollaig]

They're inanimate objects. By that reasoning, (the use thereof imbuing them with soul), the checkout till I used to work on must have a serious amount of soul.

[Rawr]

Each book is a friend who teaches us much, so I believe they have their own beautiful essence flowing through, ultimately which the author has set into motion of course

[Steeeeve]

I think the word "soul" is used to describe a lot of different things so it's hard to say. I don't even believe humans have souls but I still use the word in certain contexts because it's helpful.

But I'd agree with Nollaig. It sounds like a nice idea but when you think about it more it means everything that gets used by people would become very soulful indeed.

I know the book is kind of giving something special back to the reader but there are other things that do that too, like a DVD for a film lover.

[Rawr]

Something which is created by a person has it's own unique energy within, it just depends on how it connects with the reader/audience and the power they feel that it holds for them.

[Steeeeve]

Just out of interest arewenearlythere what do the S, A and H stand for in SAHM? It's probably something obvious that I'll feel silly for not guessing but I must know!

[Nollaig]

I know the book is kind of giving something special back to the reader but there are other things that do that too, like a DVD for a film lover.

 

I was going to say DVD.

 

It depends on how you want to look at it. All matter is energy, so yes in the same sense that none of us share the same atoms, no two copies of the same book contain the same atoms and their energy is therefore unique. In fact the only thing that links them is the semantic meaning perceived by humans, which exists only in the mind (as with all artand language.) There is nothing like that in the book inself. How far you want to take that is between you and your book (and possibly your god).

[sirinrob]

Just out of interest arewenearlythere what do the S, A and H stand for in SAHM? It's probably something obvious that I'll feel silly for not guessing but I must know!

Stay At Home Mom

[Steeeeve]

Stay At Home Mom

 

Ahh yes. It was obvious

Thanks

[Kreader]

No souls but what the writer puts into writing the books. Books do have spines though.

[Nollaig]

No souls but what the writer puts into writing the books. Books do have spines though.

 

<3

 

^ That's a little heart, signifing my complete love of that cringe-worthy joke

[Katrina1968]

No soul but blood, sweat and tears.

[Univerze]

Nope. Books are objects. Objects don't have souls. I don't really believe humans have souls either, let alone books

[Vladd]

No souls but what the writer puts into writing the books. Books do have spines though.

 

And don't forget some have an apendix as well.

[Nollaig]

And don't forget some have an apendix as well.

 

HAHAHA. Oh dear.

[BookJumper]

Maybe they don't have an independent soul of their very own (note the maybe: as a writer who's seen her work take shape out of her control many times, I am not going to dismiss the possibility that they do), but they definitely preserve a shard of the soul of their author.

[Talisman]

I used to be a member of that forum (and moderator for about 3 years) and remember that discussion well. You can probably still see my reply on there using the same login name, not that I can remember what I wrote. As an author though and also a spiritualist, for want of a better word, I would have to say that yes I do believe very much that books have a soul, as indeed everything does, inaminate or otherwise. By their very nature that take on much of the experience of the author, and the words that books contain also have great power, for good or otherwise - the power to tell a great story, whether fiction or non fiction, to make us think, laugh, cry and in some small way, to change lives.

[arewenearlythere]

Yes I am a Stay at Home Mum, it just means that I get work from home most days .

 

I do believe that we impose a soul onto people, maybe a soul is created because a person leaves an impression on our life. In that case perhaps the soul (if any) lives on in the author's name as opposed to the story itself. It does sound romantic to image books have souls (as long as it doesn't turn into 'silence in the library' who fans )

[vinay87]

I always believe that a book has a soul of its own. The story is something that has been around. The author is a medium through which a story is drawn out. This is true only for good stories, mind you.

 

Every author puts a lot of his/herself into the book. And the book has a soul which tries to influence the reader. That's why some people like a book that others hate. We can't all like the same people. Same goes for books.

[BigWords]

There's a quasi-religious concept (or anti-religious if you want to nitpick) which states that the universe itself is sentient - and every single atom within said universe is a part of the greater consciousness. As humanity struggles with concepts, adding each generation's thoughts, morals, suggestions and preconceived ideas into the melting pot of "culture", we are, in fact, merely adding to the universe's self-awareness. There will come a time when the universe has learned all it can from us and move on. Meaning, in short, the end of the human race as we know it. Not necessarily the end of us, just a move to another form of existence, possibly brought back into the greater consciousness of the universe itself. If this line of logic was to be followed through, then yes, books have souls - as well as pebbles, and leaves, and televisions, and even politicians.

[Talisman]

You have put into words perfectly and much more succintly than I ever could my own beliefs BigWords - it took me five years work and a whole book to sum up what you have said in a few words !

[BigWords]

Thanks Talisman

 

I'm not sure if you've encountered the concept of Kami, but the Japanese 'household gods' concept is somewhere along the same lines - though far, far too complex for my brain to handle. There's also a few monologues from Babylon 5 which expand further on the concept of the universe as a sentience unto itself. I inherently dislike conventional readings of the entire 'soul' business, as it doesn't answer some very rudimentary questions. If only people have souls, where have all the extra souls come from? There are more people alive right now than at any time in history, and (according to most religious texts) souls can't be whipped up out of thin air.

 

[i really, really didn't mean to derail this topic into a theological debate, so people can get back to answering the OP]

[Talisman]

Thanks for that BigWords - I haven't heard of the Japanese theory, but as you (and many others on here) know, I am big B5 fan - especially of G'kar !

[Scarlette]

Ignoring the religious, etc, connotations of the word, I like the idea of a book having a soul. But I think whether one grasps and keeps a little bit of its soul depends on how it affects the reader - some books are difficult to get into and only reveal themselves to a select few, while other books have no substance whatsoever and gladly opens their pages to anyone.

[Chrissy]

Ignoring the religious, etc, connotations of the word, I like the idea of a book having a soul. But I think whether one grasps and keeps a little bit of its soul depends on how it affects the reader - some books are difficult to get into and only reveal themselves to a select few, while other books have no substance whatsoever and gladly opens their pages to anyone.

Beautifully put Scarlette, and exactly how I feel about the whole book soul theory.