Why hardback are...hard

It has taken me almost a month to get halfway through The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and I'm even contemplating quitting right now. I really wanted to read it seeing as I was very curious to see if Zafon is really talented or The Shadow of the Wind was a fluke accident which many first time books often are and sadly, it was the latter. Full of excitement, I decided to buy the hardback instead of waiting patiently for another year or so until the paperback is released, big mistake.

I'm actually a die hard devotee of the paperback: it's cheap, easy and fits in your handbag. A hardback on the other hand is naturally fancier and does wonders for the overall allure of your bookshelves but they're expensive and just to damn big. Whereas you can take out a paperback anytime, anywhere, I always get the feeling when reading a hardback that I have to sit down quietly and politely on the couch without (god forbid) eating so that I don't damage the bugger. I do most of my reading while enjoying some form of transport so that's why The Angel's Game has been dragging on, I'm just too afraid to take it out during the hustle and bustle on the bus.

Hardback's are all about presentation, not content. Ask anyone, I'm a sucker for pretty books and packaging. The downside however, is that I barely read them 'cause I don't want to hurt the beauties. The Catch-22 with books of course, is that it's what's underneath that counts. In order to get to the essence, we have to destroy the object, yet in order to enjoy the object, we never get to see it's content and thus never let the book realise it's potential. This is why I have decided to only buy paperback versions of books I really want to READ and only buy hardback versions of books that are pretty, illustrated or cheap as was the case with The Angel's Game, thank god. That narrows it down, a bit anyway.

These hardback hardships combined with a story that's not great but not really terrible either have kept me staring at the same book for a month now which is starting to freak me out as well. I'm so ready for something new.