The Book Experiment

"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams." H.G. Wells

Books contain our memories, both imagined and real, subjective and collective, personal and general. They can not only show us our past but let us experience it through the intimate process of reading. It is not just history books, historical fiction or classic books that have this impact, but also one's own history of reading, the books you have lived with, grown up with. Whenever I open my little cupboard full of childhood books, it's like opening up a little time capsule. Between the pages I suddenly remember things I thought long forgotten, feelings I felt at the time I read them, my dreams and hopes. Books can take us back to that and they can also take us forward. They can literally take us into the future through their exploration of science and technology or sci-fi, but they also make us dream about our lives, what we'd like them to become, and of our collective futures.

Books are our time machines.