Franzen on books, e-books, and permanence

I missed this the first time around, maybe you did, too—but that's okay...at least for now.

Let me explain: in the world of digital text, there is really no such thing as "permanent," so even though I'm (re)posting this here for posterity, it may not be with us as long as it would if I printed it on paper.

According to the LA Times, this was the point Jonathan Franzen made while speaking  about e-books to participants at a book festival in Cartagena, Colombia.

“Maybe nobody will care about printed books 50 years from now, but I do. When I read a book, I’m handling a specific object in a specific time and place. The fact that when I take the book off the shelf it still says the same thing -- that’s reassuring," he said, the Telegraph reports.

"I think, for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the experience. Everything else in your life is fluid, but here is this text that doesn’t change. Will there still be readers 50 years from now who feel that way? Who have that hunger for something permanent and unalterable? I don’t have a crystal ball. But I do fear that it’s going to be very hard to make the world work if there’s no permanence like that."

Franzen is right on. It IS going to be hard to make the world work if there is no permanence. To eliminate permanence is to eliminate history, and when you erase history, facts start to change. Of course, you don't need me to tell you this. George Orwell covered all of this in 1984—a book you may want to re-read sooner rather than later if physical books are truly becoming a thing of the past.

Words...and Acts

The fiction section in of the College Park

Community Library.

For some time now, I've been doing a lot of talking...and writing... about books and why I think they're superior to all this e-reading nonsense. Well, I' have been flapping my gums about it here too much, but, in addition to the above, I've also spent a lot of time over the past few months ensuing that my money and mouth were in the same place.

At the close of last summer, I got the idea of establishing a library in my community. Now, some six or seven months later, I'm pleased to say that, with the help of some die-hard locals who shared my vision and the incredible generosity of a local church, the College Park Community Library is on the cusp of opening its doors to the pubic.

The next issue of The Aardvark, which is behind schedule because I've been spending so much of my "free" time with the library, will contain some writing about this endeavor. So if you're interested to know how we did it and how the joint has been received by the community, stay tuned for that.

Availability: an unexpected advantage of real books

You know where I stand: I think the e-books are lame and that e-readers, rather than tools to enhance the experience of getting lost in a good book, are anathema to it. You may disagree and that's fine. Yet, wherever you come down on e-book technology, you've got to agree that subject of this article is surprising to say the least.

Maybe peeling our eyes from the screen, going out in the world, and using them to find an actual book on a library shelf isn't as antiquated an idea as some people seem to think it is.

As demand for e-books soars, libraries struggle to stock their virtual shelves (Washington Post)

Happy reading.

One Minute Zine Reviews on Issue 3 of The Aardvark

Here's a Review of the Aardvark (issue #3) from One Minute Zine Reviews—a New Hampshire-based blog, paper zine, and radio show produced by DJ Frederick. If you're a fan of independently produced publications (and radio!), check it out!

 

The Aardvark #3

full size / 20 pp $2

 

I don’t know what the scientific evidence is, however in the past two decades I have subjectively observed a decline in not only the quantity of people who read for enjoyment or education, but also the quality of the reading process itself. People’s attention spans have been subverted by television and the internet, e-readers, ipads, and an endless array of gadgetry.

The tactile and tangible experience of reading books is a joy, one that humans have connected with for hundreds of years. Deep reading involves attention, thought, and reflection with minimal distraction. Deep reading is an essential ability that shapes critical thinking and comprehension skills.

Art Vark’s newsletter / zine The Aardvark is an affirming, literate publication that asks us to be mindful of the relationship between reading and technology, and our own reading habits and choices. The Aardvark is a celebration of words on paper. Corporate CEOs like Steve Jobs (RIP) and whomever is the CEO of Amazon would have us abandon the ship of books and paper like passengers fleeing the Titanic. The problem is: corporate technocrats haven’t thought about the societal implications of such a rash act. They have only thought about billions in profits to be gleaned from digital culture consumers.

 

The Aardvark moves fluently through philosophical discussions and introduces the reader to some thought provoking, overlooked tomes. There is more substance within its 20 pages than I’ve read in some full length books. If you care about the act of reading, and the future of reading, I propose immersing yourself in these pages.

I recognize the irony of cheerleading for the world of paper on a blog. Yet I seek balance – this blog is also a paper zine and even a radio show. I do 95% of my reading away from a screen, and will always choose paper over an “e-anything”. As we plunge deeper into the digital age, paper zines like The Aardvark may become archaic, or they may not – they may become the impetus for thoughtful discourse that moves us in a direction of equilibrium and reason.

 

Aardvark Review from New Issue of Zine World

The Aardvark (Issue #2 - Summer 2010): "This good looking ans well-made zine ... has four main articles plus zine reviews with pics—nice. The four entries center around books, authors, and their ideas. My favorites were the first entry that suggests a philosophy where you follow your bliss," follow what you love; and the second, how libraries are too often dumping their books. Recommended for contemplative book readers."

Thanks Zine World!

What Is an Ad?

Today's Washington Post has an interesting article about some recent Twitter phenomenon (that I of course would not have known about had I not been reading the PAPER version of the newspaper) called "#FridayReads."

Basically, the hashtag was thought to be a series of tweets by famous authors and others who simply wanted to tell their "followers" what they were reading. Eventually, though, some of the hashtag's users  realized then that the originator of the tag and her small staff earned money off it -- that the whole thing was just a secret commercial for publishers.

Once again, it seems the web, which was once championed as the greatest thing for freedom of expression since the mouth, is really just a giant tool for advertisers to use in their relentless quest to find out what makes us tick.


From the article:

"Two weeks ago, users including New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Weiner began to tweet that the hashtag made money off contributors. Author Maureen Johnson wrote on Twitter: “I didn’t realize it was a moneymaking business where publishers paid to promote books.

"Others followed suit, surprised that what they saw as a simple communal love of books helped a group make money. When I spoke to Johnson that day on the phone, I wondered: What’s the difference between contributing to #FridayReads and Twitter? The issue seems to me a microcosm of a much larger social-media message: Companies make money selling your conversation to advertisers."

Between the pages

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of working at a large used bookstore -- a book warehouse, actually -- and one of my favorite tasks was the shelving of the new stock. Not only did it give me a first-hand look at the new titles coming in the door, it also gave me a chance to flip through whatever was in my hands and unearth the treasures the books' previous owners inadvertently left behind. Most often, this booty took the form of bookmarks, which I always kept (despite having hundreds of these things, I never seem to have one around when I need one). Every so often, though, I found something more exotic, like a family photo, someone's personal writing, postcards, and so. One time, while handling a copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula, I came across a postcard with a picture of the ruins of a castle that, according to person who wrote on the back of it, "inspired Stoker to write the story."

Anyway, while searching the "book news" today, I came across the following review of “Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller’s Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages.” Seeing it made me think of the time I spent working in that bookstore and so I thought I'd share it with you here. Enjoy.