Faber is a character who I saw as very intelligent and wise. He was a gingerly old man who had been around awhile and knew how the world used to be before all the extreme censorship and false happiness. He knew about the time of learning and prosper and books. Although he feels that it's not the physical component of books that is important but rather what's inside, "It's not books you need, it's some of the things that were once in books." (82) And Faber does not just specifically single out books as important either because both books and media had the potential to become storage units for information, "The same things could be in the 'parlor families' today. The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through the radios and televisors, but are not." (82) Unfortunately media had never fully developed as much as books did to store the information so books became to primary source of storage, "Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget." (82-83)
Faber then goes on into explaining what he sees as the reason for the importance of books, "Number One: Do you know books such as this are so important? Because they have quality."(83) A new component that was part of the three pieces of a society prospering that were truly missing; "Number one, as I said: quality of information. Number two: leisure to digest it. And number three : the right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first two." (84) Now, "what does the word quality mean?" (83) Quality to me means best or reliable, when I go shopping I look for the best quality of product available and I do this because the product with the best quality is seen as reliable and better. But quality to Faber meant something a bit more specific and interesting, "To me it means texture." (83) Texture? Like the touchy feely stuff? A cat is soft and fluffy, while a lizard is dry and rigid. Exactly! Books have texture, "This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You'd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more literary you are. That's my definition, anyway." (83) Books have life; like a character through the use of adjectives and literary devices we build a person that resembles an idea and gives us this sense of life. Books have the ability to do that, give life, that is why Faber also touches on the fact that the best authors the legendary writers are the ones' that bring books to life, "Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies." (83)
Books are important and Faber realizes that he sees the real importance and has deeply analyzed the reasons for the great importance of these books. And I completely agree with Faber's analysis and explanation of the importance of books and the true meaning of quality.
But while thinking about it, I thought, books really do have great power! Books can give us emotions and informations to take action. So if the society wanted happiness so badly then why did they take away the one thing that could give them such a thing. If you want something so badly, such as happiness, then isn't the small bumps in the road, like being offended or wrong, just a price to pay for beautiful literature?
