YP Comment: Books ignite the imagination

'A book is a device to ignite the imagination.' This assertion by the venerable Leeds playwright, author and man of words Alan Bennett has never been more prescient after it emerged that one in 10 households is now a book-free zone as a result of the digital technology takeover. This soul-destroying statistic offers little comfort to those who believe a love of literature is one of the greatest gifts of all '“ electronic devices are no substitute whatsoever.

This assertion by the venerable Leeds playwright, author and man of words Alan Bennett has never been more prescient after it emerged that one in 10 households is now a book-free zone as a result of the digital technology takeover.

This soul-destroying statistic offers little comfort to those who believe a love of literature is one of the greatest gifts of all – electronic devices are no substitute whatsoever.

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Winston Churchill, Britain’s wartime leader (and celebrated author), once said: “If you cannot read all your books – fondle them – peer into them, let them fall open where they will, read from the first sentence that arrests the eye, set them back on the shelves with your own hands, arrange them on your own plan so that you at least know where they are. Let them be your friends; let them, at any rate, be your acquaintances.” If only more people, and parents in particular, cherished these priceless words of wisdom.

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