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Engaged Readers? 1/5/2017 7:34:22 AM
Here's an imaginary dialogue about writing and reading:
Harry liked to make his points boldly without regard to the effect his manner had on the person he was talking to. "You told me last time we met that you like the novels of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen and many other writers from Homer to Whoever. But consider this: readers nowadays don't have the powers of concentration that folks had before electricity and everything it brought us came in -- radio, TV, internet -- and all the advances people in later generations will enjoy.
"Consumers want visuals and pithy statements they can absorb in eight seconds. Then they move on. Count yourself lucky if you get them back. Dickens and Ms. Austen and the others may hang on for a while longer with a minority of people. After that, they're done for. Get to the point. Bring juicy bits in quickly, then scram. The only way from now on."
"I thank you," Tom replies, "for telling me your point of view so fully."
"It's not only a point of view, friend. It's the way the world is going. Look around you. It's vital to adapt to the trends of the day. Otherwise, you'll fail at life. Supposing there's someone in a room some place where the rents are low writing the novel that Dickens or Ms. Austen never got around to. No one will read it. He or she will fail. Years of life wasted."
"We can argue about this," Tom says, "and never each a definite conclusion. People are free to do as they please. If someone writes a novel in imitation of the 19th century masters, the sheer oddity of it will attract a few readers -- for a while."
"Exactly," Harry says. "Your imaginary project will have no lasting impact. The world has moved on. Nowadays and in the future writing will need to be brief and to the point. End of sentence."
"I know enough now to reply to you," Tom says. "It's not enough for me just to read a book, put it aside, and go on to another. I'm going to write essays and publish them on the internet. I'll develop my ideas by starting this way: I think I understand the kind of writing you prefer -- spare, streams of short sentences. minimalist. There's a boatload of that on the web and in the print media. I look at some of it myself. It has its place but it doesn't nourish or satisfy. Readers glance and leave quickly. Nothing there to hold them. The case is different with the works that make up our literary tradition -- to use a hackneyed term. The people who wrote those works had more than talent: they gave themselves completely to what they were doing. They let nothing distract them from getting their work done. As a result, they bring out the best in their readers and inspire them to make commitments to the books they're reading. I can't prove it, of course, but neither can you disprove that there will always be readers who form strong bonds with certain writers. A minority, I presume, but for some that kind of relationship between writer and reader will always exist. One reader will pass his or her enthusiasm on to another. And so on. I hope you'll soon find a writer from our great tradition whose work holds you in its grip and transfixes you. Try Cervantes. try Dostoevsky, George Eliot. Wallow in their length."
"You need millions of dollars and hours of leisure every day for that kind of exercise."
"No! Not at all!" Tom asserts vigorously. "I can imagine millions of people setting aside an hour a day to spend time with with writers whose works enrich mind and heart and feelings. A nation of cultivated people, a culture of engaged readers."
"You exaggerate, my friend," Harry says.
"That's my vision of the future," Tom replies. "Better than a world of semi-literate minimalists."
