When I finished the last page of the latest book I was reading I set it down and walked to the computer. I moved the mouse and the familiar sound — a sort of electric buzz — told me it was firing up.

I opened up the Internet and quickly moved to a news site where I began reading an article. As I read I realized the words had fallen flat on the screen and their meaning, no matter how urgent the subject seemed, just fell flat.

The page I was reading — excuse me, viewing — seemed to sink back into the monitor. The life of this Web page just suddenly expired.

The monitor of a computer is another world. We call it the cyber world, of course, but it's more than that. It lacks a certain substance, in a way.

Now don't get me wrong, I love reading news articles from around the world and I enjoy the multimedia applications only found on the Internet. For me it doesn't get much better than reading articles about the U.S. in the foreign press, gaining a broader insight from the outside, of our little world here or watching a video.

But reading is a sort of sacred rite and the book being the most holy object here.

A friend of mine doesn't mind reading books online. In fact he loves old classics and you can download them from a number of sites, free. But sitting in front of a computer screen falls short of the ritual that is reading a book.

Think about it. First there is the book. Pick it up and smell it. It has an aroma all its own; sometimes it's musty and old, other times there is a crispness to the aroma that reeks of newness.

Now feel the book; stroke its spine then flip its pages. Flipping its pages you can hear the sound the heavy paper makes as it slaps quickly, one page against the next.

Now find your favorite spot in your house, or perhaps it's on the beach, in the sand. Get comfortable and open the first page of the book and look at it for a moment.

Read the introduction. I used to skip introductions but quickly found that I might miss a greater point of a book if I did that.

OK, now commit yourself to the pages of this book. Begin reading and become immersed in it. Become so entranced by the words in that book that putting it down is almost impossible; it might even be sacrilege of sorts.

Now, as you close the book after reading several chapters, find a place for it; a special place. Sure, a bookshelf is appropriate but perhaps you can choose a place close to your favorite spot; a sort of shrine to the book of the moment, a holy place that can only be touched by you.

When you pass that space you might glance at the book. This might cause you to look at your watch, wondering when you can return to that book.

The book begins to take on a personality. For the short time you're reading it, you develop a relationship with the book, cursing it, loving it, hating it, liking it and, yes, learning from it.

Now, try that with your computer. You can't; you can't because having a relationship with such a manic thing is, well, taxing and insane. But your book, well you can count on your book to be there, faithfully, never shutting down; only tiring when you tire and always willing to start when you're ready to start.