This relationship between the ignorable material form of a book and its valuable content might remind us of another familiar relationship: that between body and soul. The words in the book are to its material form as the immortal soul is to the mortal body. Words can leave behind their material existence in the book, and migrate to new forms, just

We love books. We take them to bed with us.

We display them on our bookshelves.

We write our names in them.

They weigh down our suitcases when we go on holiday.

We take them for granted. But there's much more to them than meets the eye.

When I look along my shelves, I'm also looking back at my past experiences, my past selves.