The Written Word

Notes of Concern…

   …Jack Blair

The Written Word

Is a picture worth a thousand words?

I think not.

A picture allows us to determine our own explanation of what is shown. It is a very helpful tool in creative thinking. It adds often beauty to our lives and often exposes us to that which we have not viewed with our own eyes.

But give me a good book anytime.

 Immersing oneself in something written by another, who fully tells a story or lays out an idea is my idea of pleasure. Good books present all sides or possibilities. A writer who can spin a tale that captures the reader and his mind is the gold standard for me.

Most books present ideas. Some books present alternative ideas to the one being more fully explored. All books permit the reader to use his own mind, to reflect on what is written, to consider arguments from his own experience in favor or against the thrust of the story.

A lot of people in my generation love to own and to keep books that have meant a great deal to them. Often they return to books they have read, only to find in the re-reading even more discoveries than the first time through. They create personal libraries in their homes.

For those who cannot buy books or build personal libraries, public libraries fulfill their desire to read. One reads to relax, or to grow intellectually, or to be challenged by new ideas, or just to escape for a short time the vicissitudes of life.

During our lifetimes we have seen the inventions of the world make hard copy books seem more cumbersome. The internet has championed electronic books. Various devices have enabled readers to carry as many as 700 books with them wherever they go, in a small handheld device.

I am going to resist the usual lament of the older folks: things were better in the past. Further, I can remember as a young student having to go to the local library, sign in, check the card catalogue to find the location of the book I sought, get it from the stacks, sit at a cold steel table in an uncomfortable chair, and search the book for what I sought. Of course I could take the book home if I had a library card, and if I failed to return it in the required period of time, I would be fined.

I once had a very large collection of books. My library was something I enjoyed. However, over the years I have given away almost all of my books. In so doing I have learned first hand how times of change.

In one instance I gave a number of books away to a school. Thinking that their library would appreciate such a gift. Imagine how surprised I was to find all my books in a local second hand store being sold cheaply. I was able to accept that the books would eventually reach someone who would read them and appreciate them. But getting there took me a while.

I also watched as schools closed their libraries completely and used the space for something else, often technology. Clearly, around the country some were trying to recognize the changes taking place and accommodating the needs of their students who resisted the old way of finding material, or doing research or just expanding knowledge.

Some years ago I knew a Headmaster who loved books. He was an avid reader. As this new trend was developing his school decided to build a library and name it for him. He agreed to let them use his name but on one condition: that there be set aside a room, with a roaring fireplace and comfortable leather chairs which could only be used for pleasure reading.

It would be interesting to know today, decades later, if students still use that room but can be found looking at their Kindles or iPads rather than actually reading a hard copy book.

Now I sit in my comfortable chair, go to a search engine, type in my question, and hundreds of possibilities appear on my screen. I select the one most applicable, click on it, and the material appears immediately on my computer. So I acknowledge that I have accepted the new ways to reed and I acknowledge that they save a great deal of time and make access to good stories so much easier

So I acknowledge that this kind of change makes sense. I do not want to be like the horseback rider who refuses to give up his faithful horse in favor of the new Model T Ford. If I were to take that position, it would be silly.  No matter one’s preference, one has to acknowledge that things do change and that progress continues to move us forward.

When I retired I set a goal to read 40 books a year. I have successfully done so over these past years. I understand that this would have been harder if I had tried to access books and read them in the old way. I have my iPad with me everywhere and I find even during the night, if I awake, I have only to push the “on” button and whatever I am currently reading is available to me.  Certainly when I travel the new methods are much more convenient. When I was younger I would take paperbacks with me on trips, ones that I could simply discard when I finished the book and replace it with another discardable paperback bought in various cities while I traveled. 

It saddens me to see libraries close, especially in schools. But they are being replaced by the ever-present laptops that young people have available today.  Towns across the country continue to try to fund their local libraries, but I fear it will ultimately not be feasible.

I have friends who refuse to give up reading hard cover books. These are people who can understand change is happening; they can even accept that it is inevitable. But they reserve to themselves the right to continue their own practice of reading.

Word crafting is a very special art. Authors who master it develop large followings. I can see that the readers of the future will continue to value the written word, but they will receive it in a different form. 

This does not lessen the importance of being well read. It does not require those of the older generations embrace the change. But they must also realistically understand that just as the primary mode of transportation went from horses to automobiles, the reading of books appears to be racing toward the online versions, not the hardback collectibles.

Let me go back to my comment on pictures lest it be thought I do not appreciate art in its various forms. I have had the opportunity to visit many of the largest and most significant art galleries in the world from the Louvre to the Uffizi to the Prado. Impressive canvases and sculptures. Well worth the time and effort.

But in no way do these treats for the eyes match the challenge of a good book. In the past they have survived side by side. Renaissance man appreciates and learns from them both. 

Hopefully this will continue.  But the delivery of art and the written word is changing rapidly. It is wise to accept and master these changes.

It is called progress.