Read Harper Lee's passionate defense of books

(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

In 2006, Harper Lee wrote a letter to Oprah Winfrey about her lifelong love of books — a letter that was then published in Oprah's magazine, O. "Do you remember when you learned to read, or like me, can you not even remember a time when you didn't know how?" Lee writes in the letter. She goes on to passionately detail a childhood spent swapping books with friends:

Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books. Instant information is not for me. I prefer to search library stacks because when I work to learn something, I remember it.And, Oprah, can you imagine curling up in bed to read a computer? Weeping for Anna Karenina and being terrified by Hannibal Lecter, entering the heart of darkness with Mistah Kurtz, having Holden Caulfield ring you up — some things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal. [Letters of Note]

Book lovers will find themselves nodding along. Read Lee's full letter at Letters of Note.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.