The Undead Book

Books currently "developing character" in my bag: A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole), Chief Culture Officer (Grant McCracken), Wikinomics (Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams).

“Death of” media predictions have persisted for some time and in reference to many different types, notes a recent New York Times article. For example, TV was supposed to kill the radio and the movies, and the internet was supposed to kill TV. However, as the article goes on to detail, none of these forms of media have ever truly died, but rather, have evolved to fulfill other roles or, particularly in the case of vinyl, re-emerged to fulfill new niches.

Yet, a question still remains as to how literature will evolve. Certainly we see obvious indications as to the future of non-fiction print, the increasing prevalence of online news sources, the decline of the literal newspaper, the popularity of topical blogs. Such media has well begun carving out its future existence as widely available, short-burst bites of information. Nevertheless, and at least for me, the future of long-form non-fiction and fictional literature remains less certain. I say at least for me because, though some may roll their eyes and say “obviously, they’ll be translated to ebook formats to be read on the iPad or Kindle,” I, honestly, want nothing to do with those formats or products.

Now, I am not saying that the iPad or Kindle are non-functional or pointless products that I would never use, but they are products that I would prefer not to use to engage myself with a book. A couple summers ago I went on a Cross-Canada train trip for roughly a month. Going from Toronto to Vancouver, back to Toronto and then to Halifax with a number of spots in between, takes a lot of days aboard a train, and unless there are Aussies aboard doing it too, reading material becomes your best friend for the long stretches between great views, destinations, arrivals, departures, and daylight.

The novel that most notably accompanied me on this trip was Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. As a piece of literature it provided an amazing escape from train induced boredom (which, despite the views, is bound to happen), but more importantly, as a solitary traveller, it became an appreciated companion. Physically, its appearance and development matched my own, the less I shaved, the more creased its covers became, the more thoughts I had while reading it, the more notes were jotted down inside its cover. It became less a book in my bag than it did a partner, accompanying me on my journey and developing its own character along the way.

It seems unrealistic to me that an iPad or Kindle could ever provide such appreciated (and durable) company. The sterile, glowing screen aside, even if I were to decide to bring one on any form of rugged adventure, I sincerely doubt that I would view a broken or chipped screen as proudly (or, at least, indifferently) as I would a ripped, coffee stained cover.

I guess the point to be made is that literary print, as it exists and has existed for centuries, remains a much more flexible format than those that are vying to be the next link in its evolution. Looking back at the aforementioned examples of TV and Radio, in their evolution their ease of use and application has been increased. Radio has gone from large, immobile, wooden units to personal devices that tune into digital signals (which can also be personalized). TV has gone through very similar transformations. Books, on the other hand, have always been a highly personalized experience (personalization being a decidedly central concern of all media evolution). If anything, those products trying to push the medium forward seem more like a step back. I’d rather lose a single, beat-up paperback worth $10.00, than my entire library contained on a pristine, plastic device worth $500.00 alone.

Of course, and as the article further points out, the real question in literature’s evolution is not necessarily “is the print format dead?” But rather, “is our attention-span?” Certainly, having all your social media available on the same medium as your book is not conducive to dedicated reading time.

So, books, what’s next?