Ms Y just shared her bio on Facebook, which says 'Bibliophile'. Well, for those who are not acquainted with this term, it is something you call yourself when you love books, especially if you want people to think that you love books.
Literature is again in trend now, just like in the 1900s, but it has transformed with some modern-day elements and attractions. We now place more importance on the cover and let the designers flourish at their best. And why not? It is audio-visual time we take a breath in; every letter printed there might not have the scope to be seen, but why let the book be unseen? Being seen is more necessary than being read. Books are happy with this new deal, and they are eventually getting their 'happily ever after' on Instagram, which also can be called Bookstagram nowadays.
As an in-(sta)-fluencer, someone knows exactly the book to go with today's dress. A perfectly balanced colour and floral design with some abstract art can make the perfect book cover for a perfect social media post. Before posing before a book, now we don't see what it is about- the main issue is if it is enough insta-ish or not. The pages of the books bathe in light as if they were born just to be captured. The covers keep the edge clean and beautiful, and the title, well, if it is good for a caption, then why not?
Not only the cover but also the names work like magic here. A murder mystery by Agatha Christie might not be very mysterious to your interest, but it is a magnet to attract more viewers to the profile. There is even a very easy formula to do that. Take a pair of reading glasses; you do not necessarily have to use them; take a glass of black coffee or raw tea even if you are a milk and sugar person. Then your desk needs some more scattered books and pens so that it seems quite convincing for a reading environment.
People believe what they see, and the witnessing equation fits very nicely in this situation. Back to back, some posts of Haruki Murakami or 'The Outsider' by Camus, and 'boom'! You are what they would call a book reviewer on social media. Your book photography can take so much height that it would not even come to the actual content or feedback of the book, so there is no need to sweat over whether you have read it or not.
The Omor Ekushey Book Fair will end in a few days, and keeping up with the books at hand is now very trendy. If not to read, then certainly to take it as a prop to a decorative sense of showing off what you have on your shelf. Reading is merely not even a condition here. So perfect the camera angles, and be sure about the colour contrast and exposure while the props are to be ready before the lens. Take some white flowers and throw them with some Murakami or Kafka. Who cares if Kafka talked of depression all the time? At least the viewers would not let the reviewer get into depression!
Some lenses of life now go around hashtags and keywords, and the digital era just flung over our heads many days ago. Everything started out of a necessity or a demand to share a common interest with people. But the real scenario is not real enough to keep pace with it. Books are Instagram-ish, mostly if they are in English. You don't see those non-fiction, heavy-dose books if someone doesn't want to pose as the most intellectual person in the country. And if it does, on a rare occasion, then it must be with a book with a lucrative design.
Ending the saga with a burning question: Are you also judging the book by its cover? Then, you might be the king of the world of bibliophilia. Enjoy while it lasts. Keep up the performance alive before the curtain finally falls down. Keep the aesthetic alive, and book posts all live!
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