The Death of Dictionaries

 

 

THE DEATH OF DICTIONARIES

Here’s a photo of our dictionaries, which are now saying goodbye.

To me, books are like living things. They talk to me. They illicit emotions. They teach. They inspire. Once I have possession of a book, it’s difficult for me to let it go. Yes, I know that’s selfish. A book upon the shelf may look like a blur of words on pressed paper and cardboard. To me, its a trophy. A mini-graduation diploma. A token of taking the time to digest and reflect upon an author’s story and ideas and the vastity of human imagination. Maybe it’s just that I’ve been a writer so much of my life that look upon most books with both love and nostalgia.

And, envy too. At the places they’ve gone. The things they’ve seen. The people they’ve met. The depth of thoughts they’ve pondered. And in many cases — the simple artful beauty of linguistic resuscitation.
Trouble is, sometimes we acquire too many things and there’s not enough space in the home. So, it’s time to make a donation. Most likely, these books shown in the picture (and about 200 more in boxes) will go to the local library. I doubt they’ll have any use for them, but I still can’t bring myself to throw them out. Someone told me donation centers like Goodwill will not even accept books anymore. I guess reading has becoming a lost skill set, unless its a social media post or a meme. Oh, and thanks for reading my post, so far. I’m most grateful.

I was surprised by how many dictionaries we’ve acquired over the years. Most of these belonged to Marieta, who used to read the dictionary “for fun.” Really, I’m serious. When she was in her native Eastern Europe, she taught herself a conversational working knowledge of five languages. I’m still working on my first. However, with online translation guides free and easily accessible, the task of doing things the old fashioned way — reaching for a book, thumbing though pages, and reading a paragraph — simply isn’t time efficient anymore. So, paper dictionaries are headed into the dustbin, alongside Encyclopedias.

This afternoon, I carried all these books — loaded into boxes — and placed them in the car. There will be a trip into obscurity tomorrow — and ultimately the recycle bin, perhaps. It was a walk of deep sadness. Like a child going off to college and then emptying the room. I remember being given these Romanian Language study guides way back in the 1980s when I was attending the Foreign Service Institute. Parting with them now, 35+ years later, is like giving away a piece of myself.

Odd as it may seem and sound, allow me this selfish moment to honor them in this way, one last time for all the gifts of knowledge they have bestowed.
__________

One Final Thought: If being curious about other languages and cultures makes me a “globalist,” then I’m proud to be a globalist. The “English-only” crowd and accompanying jingoistic attitudes often isolate Americans from the rest of the world, and we are now paying the price of that disconnect and ignorance.