Response to Sven Birkert's The Gutenberg Elegies

Like a M. Night Shyamalan film, scored by Olivier Messiaen, I could never have predicted at the beginning of the book how I would feel at the end, and while I was confused for much of the time I could tell something highly intellectual was going on that was well worth listening to. The language was very sophisticated, making it a difficult read. This plays directly into one of the argument of the text, which suggests that the current way we read maybe lessening our ability to process difficult texts.

Generally, I agreed with the arguments the book set forth. This is easy to do as the arguments themselves, thought they deal with many intangible elements, appear so self-evident when put into print that it is hard to disagree. This is especially true of the observations regarding the general direction of reading in our society. It is obvious that people read more broadly, and with less depth, now than we have historically. What results is often more like checking a book of an infinitely long list than gaining any deep meaning from a text. I find frequently that when someone is describing to me a book that they have read, they are rarely able to say more than that it was good and that I should read it. I believe the cause of this is mostly our current education system, which encourages testing on reading based on plots and characters rather than more subjective elements. As a result, many students viewed reading as a chore, something done haphazardly in order to pass a class rather than enjoy.

Despite my agreement with the majority of the book’s premise, I found the concerns about the abandonment of fiction to be hyperbolic at times. People are still reading fiction. The sales figures of books like the Harry Potter series can attest to that. As long as authors are able to capture the imaginations of their audiences, I do not fear for a complete takeover of fiction by non-fiction.

Through the entire text though, there is no discussion of quality of novels. Literary critics make a living promote some books over others in terms literary excellence and worthiness. The text emphasizes the importance of reading fiction in order to help formulate the self during youth, and enter the “reading state” where readers access a deeper sense of time and connectedness. Does the relative quality of the novel matter, or are all fiction novels equally able to assist in self-making and in entering the reading state?

For as much as the book was thought provoking, I think it is too late for me to change my ways regarding digital technology. Now however, I can recognize how my dependence on technology affects my reading and with that I can combat it. I wish only that more people would read The Gutenberg Elegies so that they may be able to see how technology affects their ability to read, and respect for print and fiction might be maintained.

-E. Ross Ura