Are Books a Form of Art?

I am no artist. All I can do is draw stick figures, and even that isn’t very good. Although I will never be able to create an artistic piece that becomes world famous, I get to be an active participant in the observation and appreciation of art. Even non-artists can be captivated by paintings, sculptures, and architecture. People travel across the world to see famous art and historical structures. I love these places, because they tell a story of the past to us in the present.

I believe books are also pieces of art. Every artist must choose a medium to work with (such as watercolor, pencils, or clay), and they utilize the unique properties of these media to convey messages of emotions and experiences. Books do a very similar thing. An author takes an alphabet (in English, 26 letters) and rearranges each letter in a pattern to form words intentionally placed to create sentences. These words build the world for a story full of emotions, themes, plot, and human nature. So much is shared using only 26 letters.

I would say art has degrees of impressiveness. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, which includes painting on the ceiling, is probably objectively more impressive than a first grader’s art project. Both are art, but they are intended for different audiences to capture attention in distinct ways. The Sistine Chapel was intended to engage Christians in a deeper connection with God through the visual representations of the Bible. A first grader’s crayon art has inspiration from a love of horses, so mom put the picture on the fridge. Both pieces are beautiful and both tell a story, and these stories inspire interior movements in our hearts and minds.

Books are the same. Books move different people in different ways. It’s okay if you’re not inspired or impressed by every piece of art or novel you read, but it’s still worth exploring to make an encounter. Sadly, people approach books and art the same way. If they are unaffected by one piece they encounter, they assume they will not like the rest. When I see abstract art, I feel nothing, but when I see Van Gogh’s Starry Night, there is a twinkle in my soul. You may have a different experience, but if I let the abstract style define how I perceived all art, I would be missing out.

Readers come in different varieties and backgrounds, so finding what you connect with can take time. Some see a deep and rich beauty in the classics for the rhythm and style of writing. Others prefer modern literature, because it feels more relatable to their daily life. Another person may enjoy poetry because of the abstract message to unpack. Someone else may prefer nonfiction and the factual content taught about the literal world around them. The point is that books and other pieces of art carry messages from the senses to the heart and the mind to lead us into an interior balance of growth and understanding. Understanding expands our knowledge of self and the world; all by using 26 letters.