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Quote of the Day: You Don’t Have to Burn Books
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” —Ray Bradbury
For as long as I can remember, books were my closest companions. They took me to exotic countries and taught me about the cultures and the people who lived there. They invited me to go on mysterious investigations and introduced me to bizarre and silly creatures from another world and time. They became friends who let me tag along with them, play with them, and explore new ideas with them. In their presence, life would suddenly become intriguing and fun. There was always something new to learn.
Life would have been empty and lonely without them.
Today books have lost their charm and their prestige, although we live in a society that tries to give the impression it is literate. Once it actually was. But we should question whether being able to write Tweets and posting on Facebook enhances literacy. I would suggest quite the opposite: literacy requires commitment to words, to clarity, to articulateness, to expression. On many blogs, large and small, the primary commitment is to find the best way to insult, attack, and shame others; this process is a way to falsely elevate one’s self and discount others. It’s also a lazy and primitive mode of expression.
Instead, we should be celebrating the reading of books. In spite of the endless variety of books that people can read, they aren’t. It takes commitment to read a book from beginning to end, whether it’s a commitment to engross oneself in a novel’s storyline, or to be well-informed from a non-fiction book. Books can stimulate intellectual curiosity, a desire to learn, and an opportunity to grow. Ultimately, however, we must take action on those things that stimulate us.
Books can also provide a historical perspective on times past, creating a context for understanding our lives. They can also define our culture, or be a defining force for planning our lives. They are an invaluable resource for a society that seeks self-understanding and an ability to plan for the future.
My hope is that someday we will once again laud the benefits of reading books. It is such a precious and rich endeavor.
Published in Group Writing
We have so many books in our house, we’re probably violating the fire code. My Kindles have so many ebooks in them, they’re now electromagnetic!
I remember when the Kindle first came out, and I couldn’t imagine buying one. Now it’s a matter of having space! There are still some bound books I buy, especially religious ones, but otherwise, I get Kindle. Otherwise, we would have had nowhere to sleep!
I thought I’d end up more on Kindle, but I’m actually moving back toward print – maybe because of the tactile nature of page-turning and seeing how far I’ve read, I feel like print books stick with me more.
To your broader point – it’s horribly sad that “literacy” has that 140- or 280-character ceiling these days. I had to leave Twitter because my attention span degraded so horribly that I could not read even a paragraph-length argument.
A few years ago I decided I wasn’t getting as many books read as I would like. So I’ve had to become more intentional about taking time to read books and not spending quite so much time on the internet.
I’d also recommend burning the podcast infrastructure to the ground to free up more time for books, even if those books are audiobooks.
Hey, I grew up with those too. Harry Potter wasn’t in a single one of them.
For most people, it has always been thus. In the West we have long been quoting literacy rates above 90%, but most people never read a book after high school, unless it was required for work.
This is the Quote of the Day, an ongoing project to help get more voices on the site. It can be the easiest way to start a conversation on Ricochet. (Some people do put in a lot more effort, of course.) Our sign-up sheet for December is here and waiting for you. We welcome new participants and new members to Ricochet to share their favorite quotations.
Another ongoing project to encourage new voices is our Group Writing Project. December’s theme is ‘Tis the Season. If you’re looking to share your own thoughts rather than those of others and have some ideas about the holiday(s) season we are entering, why not sign up there?
Also, as of tomorrow, there will be an entire novel posted on Ricochet. And it’s not the first time that happened.
Neal Stephenson contrasted the word-based method of communication with the graphical/sensorial method. In my review of his book, I said:
As a general matter, the sensorial interface is less open to challenge than the textual interface. It doesn’t argue–doesn’t present you with a chain of facts and logic that let you sit back and say, “Hey, wait a minute–I’m not so sure about that.” It just sucks you into its own point of view.
The book came out in 2006, so social media was not considered; it was more about books/magazines/newspaper versus TV and various stagey presentations intended to convince, such as a Disney reconstruction of the imagined temple in India (with embedded environmental messages) and the ‘tunnels of oppression’ which became popular in academia. Very thought-provoking, and extendible to social media. My review is here:
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/34447.html
I love turning pages and definitely miss that with the Kindle. That’s another excuse to buy the physical books, Kelly.
Reminds me of “Naudsonce.”
But I’d have a hard time reading a book on my walks. It might be dangerous! Those are the only times I listen to podcasts.
I love that video segment. It says so much!
And part of one of the greatest movies ever made.
I think books can be so much more engaging than the visual. They challenge and work with our creativity and imagination in a way that nothing else does. Thanks, David.
Regarding historical literacy and reading propensities (or lack of same)…in a used bookstore, I ran into some journals of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, circa 1880 or so. The Firemen were the guys who shoveled the coal into the boiler furnaces. The job requires more thinking than one might assume…the fireman has to maintain proper steam pressure over changing terrain…but still, it is by no means the most intellectual jobs on the railroad. I doubt if any of them had ever attended college; many had probably never gone past 85h grade.
The literary level of these journals is pretty high. In addition to industry news and union matters, there are political columns and short stories…some of them very *long* short stories by our modern standards.
Here’s one of the issues from 1882:
https://archive.org/details/188201FiremensMagazineV06
I wonder how many of today’s college graduates have the literacy level and the attention span to read such a publication.
I don’t read books when I’m bicycling, indoors or out. I’ve tried it indoors, but it doesn’t work as well as audiobooks.
Getting back to Bradbury’s comment, it’s been acknowledged for the last several years that U.S. students can’t (or won’t) read. I suspect a lot of it is due to lazy parents who have delegated all at-home learning to the TV and other electronic devices. Got to have more time for their own self-realization, I suppose. Those pesky kids just get in the way.
Every Christmas, I get the luxury of buying fresh, new books. Usually, four or five. My husband will make a “date” out of going to the bookstore to choose new reads to get through the end of the year and begin the new year. I treasure it. A few years ago, I picked up the first Alan Bradley book. I regret nothing and pray that there’s still another few books in the Flavia de Luce Series!
What a wonderful way to celebrate!! I hope you will have a “date night” coming up soon, Shauna!
Date is in quotes because my husband and I basically separate upon entering the store. We don’t meet up for about two hours! 😂
So you have “us” time separately 😊
That says a lot about the value of bookstores and also marriages which are both disappearing at an alarming rate.
There is something wonderful about wandering through a bookstore, without a deadline or a particular mission. I feel sometimes like the books are calling out, “take me, take me,” and I really wish I could take them all. Maybe that’s why I don’t visit them very often anymore.
Sort of like Shabbos for the mind. Relaxing and restful.
Unfortunately, this has been going on for a long time now. There was not one book in my parents house. I didn’t learn to read or write until the age of 10 and it was through comic books that I was able to teach myself to read. But don’t just blame the parents, the teachers I had didn’t give two hoots in hell whether I learn or not either. I’d just show up to class with no books, no papers, no pencils, no homework and they would pass me on to the next year class no questions asked. I was never held back a year and graduated high school on time. I never saw a counselor, there was never a parent/teacher meeting, no one cared. On my 18th birthday, the only time the high school principal called me into the office was to tell me the Army recruiter would be in on Wednesday and I should come by and see him. I’ll be 66 years old next month, and the same old story still goes on today.
Well, good for you, Ronin, that you achieved a good life in spite of all those roadblocks! I had a mother who encouraged me to read, and teachers who also believed in reading and good writing. I was very fortunate.
Geez, talk about “Improvise, Adapt and Overcome”… You did it…
Yes, but I don’t recommend it as a life style. It didn’t, and doesn’t, have to be that way.
Are there any statistics on whether reading books has declined? I have to say that I have conflicting impressions on this, all of which are anecdotal. My reading has not gone down. But trying to get my eleven year old son to read a book is like pulling teeth. I’m told that is normal these days. I loved to read when I was young. On the other hand the educated people I know still read lots of books. I don’t doubt that reading has declined. TV has declined too. My hunch is it’s because of the internet and cell phones. This is another sign of cultural decline.
I used to give my wife a Barnes & Noble gift card around the holidays where she would go to the local store we have and spend time there. She loved it. She would come back with four or five books too. Now she just seems to get her books on Kindle.