Will Borders bookshop give way to another food court?

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Is Borders going to shut down? Well, the mini skirt answer to that question is your guess is as good as mine. Judging from the way Border shares have been trading, it’s currently languishing in loose change territory. And most people seem to believe the bookseller is set for the swan dive.

However there may still be hope, recently Borders announced yet another cash injection into it’s ongoing onion story (the more you peel, the more you cry only to end up with nothing) as it tries to reinvent itself against the onslaught of the digital age.

But you know what even with this new cash transfusion, Borders has its work cut out for it, contending with everyone from Barnes & Noble to Wal-Mart , not to mention fierce rivalry in the e-book market from Amazon.com and even Apple with the roll out of the ipad.

Even though Borders has tried to hit back by recently launching its own e-reader, it’s still up against stiff competition.

I’m not even sure anyone can even turn Borders around – fact of the matter is this: Borders just left it far too late; for years instead of buying whole sale into the e-book revolution by shifting gears and reinventing itself to this new challenge; it’s being fighting it tooth and nail to preserve the valedictory idea of the printed word in the way candle makers once resisted the advent of the incandescent light bulb.

Personally, I along with many others will rue the passing of Borders – as people who regularly read (I suspect) have always been prone to an indescribable sense of estrangement that has always drawn them together in the way birds just join a flock to make a perfect wedge and fly to wherever they fly too.

And Borders has always provided that special kind of space for serendipitous meetings to cater for those who really love to read - where it may not be so unusual for one reader to stumble across another only to exclaim silently: “OMG, there are actually people like me!”

And now with the scepter of scythe hanging around Borders – I can’t help but feel a very special locale that has managed to create a tiny community of book readers in Singapore is coming to an abrupt curtain close – and that can only mean that feeling of estrangement becomes much more profound, urgent, and acute for many who make up that community who still loves to read in a world where everything is just served up in one hour and a bit movies – when I consider how many friends I made in Borders through the years ranging from Missy Dotty (the owner of this site) to the loquacious ladies of the famous Siglap read club, Montburan and her Sunday tea party read clubs  – against this sugary backdrop somewhere in the back of my head the prospects of Borders turning into another food court just fills me with an indescribable pain that seems no longer to be obscurity but outright oblivion.

Something tells me – I may go right against the grain on this one and just decide to pick up a few lots of Borders for old time sake – it’s time to give back to Borders – whether it makes it or not isn’t the point – what’s important is that Borders bookshop has been life changing for me in more ways than I can possibly elaborate – and it will never be allowed to go down without at least a decent fight, not if I can help it.

Darkness 2010

Darkness: “I wouldn’t waste your money buying that book if I were you.”

Miss Dotty: “I am sorry, but do I know you?”

Darkness: “No. But you know me now.”

Miss Dotty: “So I presume you know Auster’s work?”

Darkness: “Unfortunately…Yes.”

Miss Dotty: “Tell me. I am curious. Do you go around following and talking to strangers all the time?”

Darkness: “I am so sorry perhaps I should take my leave.”

Missy Dotty: “No, no…. don’t go….I mean….tell me more besides Auster.”

Darkness: “If you like.”

Conversation excerpt captured by an auto-bot crawler an obscure entry in Ekunaba – The Brotherhood Press 2010