Don't Get Too Connected
The latest issue of insidehighered.com includes an essay by Terry Caesar that pretty much sums up the problem for readers -- and book publishing -- in today's culture. Where can you find a quiet place to read? Even on college campuses, where the printed word should be top dog, technology rules, Caesar says. Text messaging and instant messaging, not to mention TV, promote connectivity and -- well, to push the point -- invite groupthink, a dangerous place to be in a democracy. Books emphasize interior thought and the individual. Reading is a private affair in a world gone increasingly public, which puts book publishing and book criticism in the undesirable position of pushing against the tide.
posted by Ellen Heltzel 11:56:00 AM
4 Comments:
I must say, I find this idea a little beyond ridiculous. If somebody cannot find a place to read - if they allow Text Messaging, or television, or cell phones, or any other form of technology stay in the way of their finding such a place - they are not readers.
If you want to state that it is a problem for the publishing industry - that they cannot convince those on the fence, or those that are not already readers that the written word is more interesting than those forms of technology - fine. I suppose.
But to state "that pretty much sums up the problem for readers"? No way. Not a chance that slides. A reader, a true reader, will find a way to read at traffic lights, in elevators, in lines at the bank, etc. Hell, if the book was good enough, I'll admit I've peeked at the text while driving in the past, so long as it was a fairly deserted road (though, I've not done this since my children were born, so I'll admit, it wasn't a great idea to have ever done it).
If anything, technology has helped in my individual world of reading in the past four years. I now "converse" with people about the books I'm reading, and get suggestions for books to read, with people from nearly every state in the union, and about a dozen foreign countries. I read the (admittedly dwindling) book pages from newspapers I'd never had access to every Sunday.
The idea that new and dynamic technology is a problem for publishg? Well, I think the problem is they've not figured out how to use it properly. The idea that it's a problem for readers? Ridiculous.
I agree with Dan, but must also add that as an employee at one of California's top Universities, I rarely see students reading for pleasure. Why? Many arrive here with such limited reading skills that they are nearly illiterate. Just slogging through general ed courses is a challenge. Few, it appears, have any interest--much less ability--to indulge in recreational reading. So the notion of needing a "space" to read never occurs to them.
That said, like Dan, I read everywhere, including my phenomenally noisy office.
Flunking out because you can't find a quiet reading space? They're called earplugs.
I think both Mr. Wickett and Ms. Kitten are absolutely correct: It's faintly ridiculous to believe that we're losing readers because they can't find a quiet place.
But they both miss Terry Caesar's larger points.
Yes, a determined reader will read just about anywhere, but reader-friendly places are disappearing from the public space.
Also, the omni-presence of video screens and computer monitors is a reminder that individual readers are outside the vast "connectivity" that technology, culture and marketing push so successfully. American popular culture has never exactly been reader-positive, but increasingly these days, to read, especially in public, is an active choice at self-exclusion. It's a choice I happily make, but I'm well aware that the main force of the culture is headed in another, flashier direction.
Mr. Weeks-
I couldn't agree with you more. I loathe the omnipresent television screens at my pharmacy, in restaurants, et al. It's just more garbage to tune out, and I am not happy about it.
Indeed, this has never (at least in my 39 years) been a bookish culture, and we're only getting worse. "Flashier" is an apt adjective. And the choice to self-exclude by reading is often a lonely one. But I have nothing to contribute to the current conversation (Which I am avoiding by writing to you) in my office lunchroom, concerning a television show I've never heard of.
All we can do is take up public space. Reading.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home