"The death of literature"

Michael Masterton wrote an article about the decline of reading and literature in his ezine Early to Rise #1599 . I had to respond. Obviously his title "The end of Literature" was meant to arouse some response. But the main thrust of his article was to decry the end of reading and books. As a librarian and avid reader these are also thoughts that are uppermost in my mind these days, too. Nevertheless, I have to disagree with Michael. I don't think reading is dying, and literature that we idolised last generation and last century may be dying, but I would prefer to use the word changing. We read, but in different formats and from different sources. Many of us use the internet for information that once we retrieved from books. We develop a sense of community with writers on the internet that once we got from magazines and newspapers. But both of those still involve reading. I still read for pleasure in an archair or in bed - from books and I don't think that is changing much, although I read (there's that word again) that people use their mobile devices and computers to read for pleasure. Those may grow, but the comfort is not there so it will be slow. As for literature... It is changing as it always has done. Sentence structure is changing. Storytelling techniques are changing. And our tastes are changing parallel to those changes in writing style. What is considered current great literature is changing. And yes, oral storytelling evolved into paper based materials so that the stories could be preserved better. And we were glad. Now the preservation/publication styles are changing to be able to tell stories orally but preserve them as well. An entirely different pleasure is involved in listening from the pleasure involved in reading, but it is literature all the same. So Michael, maybe it's change we have to face, and embrace, if we choose, but it is not death - well not of literature and reading.

Guardian first book award

Biography of homeless man wins Guardian First Book Award
Alexander Masters has tonight beaten a strong field to win the £10,000 Guardian First Book Award for Stuart: A Life Backwards, his biography of homeless man Stuart Shorter. Told in reverse, from homelessness, drug addiction and spells in prison back to a horribly abusive childhood, it is, despite its harrowing subject matter, a funny, irreverent read,

HarperCollins goes digital

Company Will Issue RFP for Digital Content Services to Prospective VendorsNew York, NY (December 12, 2005) - HarperCollins Publishers today announced they will create a digital warehouse for all of its content and will issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) this month as part of an effort to develop the necessary technical infrastructure to broadly exploit its content digitally.

Merriam-Webster's Open dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Open Dictionary where you can 1) submit and share entries that aren't already in our Online Dictionary, and 2) browse entries submitted by other members of the Merriam-Webster Online community.

Communication Success Tip

The simplest way to start a conversation is to ask a question. When a simple YES/NO answer of just a few words is sufficient, questions usually begin with ARE, DO, WHO, WHAT, WHEN , WHERE, WHICH. When further elaboration is required, the questions usually begin with: HOW, WHY, IN WHAT WAY, WHAT.

National Poetry Almanac

National Poetry Almanac http://www.poets.org/almanac/ Read something new every day! The almanac offers exciting monthly themes and daily articles about poetry, both its fascinating history and its dynamic present."

eBook Impressions

e-book Impressions

Over 30,000 bestseller fiction and non-fiction e-books