Response to Robert Bringhurst's " Why There Are Pages and Why We Must Turn Them"
This article really threw me for a loop. The title made me think that this article was about how a well written book could take one away into the depths of the flow. I found the article to be very ironic when the author say’s “a good book may through you across the room.” (21) Conversely “a bad one may make you want to throw it across the room and never pick it up again.” (21). That is exactly what I wanted to do with this article. It took the author four pages to say what he was trying to convey. I felt it could have been expressed in three or four paragraphs. It reminded me of our unit one reading assignment where it tells us to keep it quick, simple and, to the point.
The article has two implications, one being that a good book will keep your attention. It must be well written so that you cannot put the book down. It must keep you so entrenched that you want to finish it and not use a book marker. The other is about books becoming extinct, while the author does mention that electronic media is taking over for the books. There is only the implication that computers and electronic books will be the new media. The meat and potatoes of the article was about typesetting and theme fonts. They have little to do with why I read a book. As with all trades, you have to keep up or adjust to the times or you will be left behind and out of a job.
There is some very interesting history of the type setter. The origins and time frames of the different fonts and styles are nice to know. It is the writer not the printer who keeps the pages turning. If a story is slow or does not flow well, then that is what losses the attention of a reader. The reader does not care if it written in Times New Roman or Cree. He also does not care if it is a news paper, hardback, or, Kindle, as long as he can read and understand what the author is saying. That is what keeps the pages turning.
Works Cited:
Bringhurst, Robert, and Heriot Bay. "Why There Are Pages and Why They Must Turn." World Literature Today, 2008. Master File Premier. EBSCO. U of Oklahoma Lib. 16 Feb. 2011.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with you in terms of the style of font not being a large determining factor with regards to a reader enjoying a specific book or not. Robert Bringhurst did seem to spend a slightly inordinate amount of time on the history of typesetting, however, I did not feel that the article was too loquacious or verbose. I really think that Bringhurst was trying to set the stage for the history of the evolution of literature and the mediums that words have been used to be conveyed. Clearly Bringhurst is an ardent and passionate defender of the book, however, I think his article made some points that were quite supportive of electronic media. He wrote articulately about the passion behind the words and that the ultimate point of reading was to understand the author, understand the work, and be able to use that and grow from it. I think electronic media provides an avenue for this kind of growth. The capability to hold 3,500 books on something the size of a notepad is absolutely incredible to me and would probably have been unthinkable to my grandparent’s generation. The past 50 years have provided a boom of technological advances and electronic media is clearly here to stay. There once was a time when people owned huge record collections, now most people have an iPod, I think ultimately gone will be the days of old stately libraries in homes, instead the homeowner will possess a hard drive or two with massive digital copies of books at the ready for any occasion.
Really interesting thoughts!
Erik S. Krausen
Mark,
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree with you that the point of reading is understanding what the author is trying to communicate. I find the convenience and longevity of electronic books are a great advantage. They do not use as much space as regular books and they do not use any paper. All in all, it seems that electronic books are superior for every day use. I enjoy reading a print book as much as the next person, but electronic books are better when my own enjoyment is not my top priority.
Also, I felt the same way about the author not getting to the point. He seemed to be saying something simple, but taking far too long to say it. It seems like someone told him that his article had to be a certain length so he kept writing until he reached that length, even if the subject had been explained adequately long ago. George Orwell would be appalled!