-Amy Lowell
how do we think about books today? the irish monks of the middle ages believed that the written word was imbued with some sort of magical, otherworldly power, and they spent their lives carefully copying and illuminating manuscripts. gutenberg's printing press completely revolutionized history when it moved books from the libraries of the rich into the hands and minds of the common people.
but today, i think it seems like some of us resent them a little. we're bitter when we're forced to venture into the library stacks when we can't find a source online. we're even angrier when we have to buy them for class. but if books are really "the reason why men lived and worked and died," then maybe we're missing something.
4 comments:
Great question! It reminded me of an article I read in Newsweek a little over a year ago, right before Amazon.com started selling the Kindle.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983
I wonder if the underlying issue is people's feeling about the books themselves or people's interest in real (i.e. challenging) ideas. People may resent books (not now but always?) in part because they ask us to reconsider how we feel/think about the big issues. Sometimes, we don't like being asked to think twice (or to think once, in some cases).
Also mostly on point:
"Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm
I wonder if "books" is an un-helpful abstraction. We never read "books;" we read or don't read this book or that book. And between the two can be a sliver or a chasm of difference.
IMHO, Amy Lowell's question isn't about "books" as much as about . . . "record keeping"? That's not the right word either, but it's closer to the idea.
My desire to read books has grown exponentially in the past months. I didn't say I've actually been reading them. I've been making a mental list, as well as a physical library (from sales, the internet) of books that I want to read, perhaps when I have the drive, patience and time.
I think that books, especially those from our past, contain something that technology could never match. The great books from our past are physical representations of the greatest minds that have touched our culture, and we have been given the opportunity to imbue their ideas and stories into our own lives and thoughts.
Post a Comment