In the Gutenberg Elegies: The fate of reading in an electronic age, Birkerts describes his childhood and his love for reading that led to a desire to write later on in his adulthood. In the books second chapter; the paper chase, He offers an autobiographical experience as both a reader and a writer. He tells of how he loved to read very early in his life, taking after his mother who was an advent reader. He would get gripped by the book to extents of not leaving the house an attribute that his father resented in his son as he found it to be rather too feminine for a man his age. He would get engrossed in his novel simply for the love of being absorbed into another dimension with different characters as though he had travelled to that new land for the few hours he was reading. His connection to the content of the book first came from feeling the book. Even at this age he still had not developed a desire to become a writer and this would develop much later. He argues that solitude and serenity of being isolated as you read enhances the understanding of the content (Birkets 82).
The part of his argument that I am most engaged in and yet disagree with is his argument that reading in solitude on printed paper is the only way to experience and understand a book. He notes that his being surrounded by his books and papers is what gave him vision of himself as a reader, thinker and introvert. His arguments fail to compel and convince a reader that the quality of a books content changes when it is on print paper or in electronic data. Or that reading should be an intimate and private special affair.
As a reader and writer I fail to see a difference in reading in solitude and reading in the company of others on digital media in terms of engrossing a readers mind fully. The story itself is what draws a reader in and not necessarily the platform it is presented on. The reading in solitude also tends to close the reader into a box, where only one view is understood (Birkerts 87). The electronic media provides an open mind as ideas on various views about the story can be presented therefore enhancing our understanding of the particular text. I disagree that the reading culture will grow into extinction together with the print media. It would appear that the transition into the electronic book era is just but a transition in history in the revolution of literature. The digital mode ensures that the book reaches more people on the internet and this can spread the culture of reading. The public platform will lead to a more understanding of the content and this in turn allows those interested in writing to get an in depth thoughts outside the aspiring writers perspective.
Work Cited
Birkerts, Sven. The Guttenberg Elegies: the fate of reading in an electronic age. Faber, and Faber, 2006.Print
