Mourning for Barnes & Noble

First was Virgin Records. It was in the late 90’s and just arriving in NYC. Feeling of the dreadful things that comes from being a new arrival immigrant I would find solace in places such as Barnes & Noble and Virgin Records. I would go to them, whether alone or in the company of brethren searching for the same kind of soul food. I would seat at the café in the basement of Virgin Time Square, order a coup of coffee and a chocolate cake, and read some the outrageous Japanese comics that you could find only there, or just the political commentaries on current events by Playboy magazine.
Then 911 happened, the scare of bombs and the fear that came from staying too long in a public place. No more peace in reading or listening to music in public. Now you would be looking for clues of terrorism, a hiding bomb under your coffee table. The basement at Virgin records was closed. No more social gathering, no more reading and talking over a seep of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake.
The Internet was gathering force, coming back with redoubling strength from the dotcom bust. We where all excited about the possibilities of communication and access to information for free. We talked of bringing down the world of greedy capitalist pigs making fortunes selling overpriced music at Virgin while not giving a damn about the artists they represented and profited from. We talked about downloading music for free to make them go bankrupt. Well, not me, but the kids at school did. The conspiracy worked and Virgin and the whole music selfish greedy industry were gone for good.
We are today getting hooked up with our Kindles, Nooks and iPads. But while we choose to isolate ourselves with ideas, we also choose to forgo the social experience that comes with reading a paper book. It used to be that Barnes & Noble was the ultimate social intellectual experience of American life. A truly American way of life experience. You would seat down on the floor, or order coffee or tea at the Starbucks inside the store and read for hours, sometimes until the store closed. Have a conversation with a friend, socialize over a coffee table book, relax your mind with some magazines between philosophy books, the classics, American and European literature, social and political essays and commentaries, fashion, photography, art and film books. All that for free. Now, all that is about to go? Even the social experience that was to talk to your book, getting responses that were written down on its pages –after buying it of course- is lost. What we have gained in terms of access to information online we have lost in terms of social experience.
It used to be that the church was the place for social gathering, the beholder of the power of religion to unify the people. Places like libraries, bookstores, galleries and museums are the churches of today, places that people hungry for soul food come to visit and ask together for spiritual substance and enlightenment. Barnes & Noble was a kind of church or religious temple. Whether you were Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Atheist or Agnostic, there was always spiritual nutrition for you there, and the social experience of getting feed in the company of others. I’m going to weep when that social experience that comes from reading a paper book in the company of other is finally gone. And I’m going to cry when Barnes & Noble finally vanish from the spiritual food chain of the world. Altering forever America’s ecosystem.

Renelio Marin ©
August 23, 2010