‘In praise of shyness’: The e-book angle
I love both interactivity and the chance to avoid it. Services such as BookGlutton are one way to draw the IM generation into books, about which you can even chat in real time—not just leave comments behind. I can also can see a major role for interactivity in such publishing categories as how-to works.
Not to mention book-related blogs like this one. Most contributors to the main area of TeleRead in fact started out as readers of it; and the latter also serve as editors—telling writers, for example, when they’re full or it or what angles they missed.
But should we force interactivity on everybody, constantly? Absolutely not. Even if John Updike’s publishers could make him participate in online forums, inside or outside his books, that would be wrong. Similarly we need to acknowledge that readers have different preferences. I’d rather read a novel by myself and compare impressions afterwards, and I hate the idea of Twittering away all the solitude in the world, especially in this era of WiFi and mobile phones.
A mouthful but on the mark
So I was pleased to see, in the new blog Read, Write, Now, a post headlined In praise of shyness, solitude, and oppositional defiant disorder (and all other personality disorders associated with reading): Or what’s wrong with being disconnnected?
The title’s a mouthful, but the author, Peter Kerry Powers, chair of the department of English at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, is right on the mark. Same perhaps for Christopher Lane, author of Shyness: How Normal Behavior Becomes a Sickness, and Helene Guldberg, who reviewed Shyness (no final verdict without my having read the book).
Shyness, it would seem, might still be in style among many Prairie Home Companion fans, but not so much in some psychiatric and tech circles. I myself love the idea of “Just me” icons or even old-fashioned mechanic buttons to provide relief from IM and other electronic interruptions–see my OLPC XO review.
Freedom from WiFi
The key is balance. As a department chair, Peter Powers presumably isn’t a hermit; what’s more, he intends to try out BookGlutton, if not with full enthusiasm. But I can also envision him on vacation, miles from the nearest WiFi hotspot, reading in happy solitude from an old-fashioned book or an e-book device with a sunlight-friendly screen like the Sony Reader or the XO. Talk about the glories of low-power consumption. The new reflective screens could be just the ticket for the hermit in those of us who enjoy the outdoors.
Related: BookGlutton’s Public Beta and comments on its current incompatibility with Internet Explorer. Also see the the About section of the Powers blog, where the Professor complains: “I’ve snuck a look at my daughter’s Facebook page and those of a number of my students. If this is reading, it’s not hard to imagine why reading comprehension shrinks apace, as does the tolerance for a text even so long as the one I’m now writing. I wonder about the possibilities of democracy in a culture where educated persons have difficulty giving sustained attention to a document as long as the Declaration of Independence (a text I used to require as a short assignment).” Yes, Professor! See Norman Mailer and E.
Addendum: Photo by the talented Rob McGlynn.
Technorati Tags: Peter Kerry Powers
January 20th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Reading is not a social activity for me — not during the actual reading phase, at least. I enjoy discussing books between reads, but I strive hard to achieve the solitude that comes with a truly immersive reading session. BookGlutton is apparently not intended for me…
January 20th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Depends on the book, Gerry. How would you feel about reading a how-to on Web design and being able to exchange tips with other readers from within the book? Wouldn’t that make sense if the interface were right?
But for novels? My own personal preference would mostly jibe with yours. I want to lose myself in the book and compare notes only afterwards, assuming I even feel like it.
On the other hand, I would be interested in analysis by scholars and other experts—including interactive discussion within the book. Or what about discussions by those familiar with the subject matter covered by the fiction? For example, friends of the novelist? Still, that’s not quite the many-to-many approach BookGlutton is using.
Of course, plenty of people will disagree with us—and as I’ve said, I love the idea of BookGlutton as a way to get IM-oriented folks interested in reading. Perhaps from there they can be gently guided AWAY from the idea of constant interactivity. Here’s to books as ways to inspire reflection!
Thanks,
David
January 20th, 2008 at 10:18 am
[...] Great piece by David Rothman. Posted in E-Books | Trackback | del.icio.us | Top Of Page [...]
January 21st, 2008 at 12:31 am
Gerry, I’m with you on wanting to read alone and discuss later. That’s why it’s important that people can close the Talk and Mark panels and not think about them, like turning off a cell phone in a library or movie theater. Then, after everyone in a book group has read the book, they can jump back in together and do a close reading and discussion, the way they would in a small English seminar or book club meeting. In those contexts, reading is a social activity for everyone.
It can be difficult to find people willing to discuss a book at the paragraph level in your own neighborhood. BookGlutton simply hopes to make it easier. Our intention is not to cater to short attention spans, it’s to use technology to overcome distance and bridge cultures by bringing people with a common interest together.
Aaron Miller,
BookGlutton co-founder
January 21st, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Thanks for nice things said about my blog, David. And I like what Aaron says about the different potential uses for BookGlutton. Although it seems to me that the selling point of the new technology is really the reading together–and I really do see this as comporting with a general preference for “connectivity” in contemporary culture that should probably be questioned–I could still see some uses for this format in an English class so that students could see that people are actually reading the same text differently and reflect on why those differences exist.
On the other hand, I’ve had students participate in online book clubs, and they universally complain that the clubs are dominated by people leaving comments like “Melville is the coolest” or else talking about how difficult it was to finish the book because they have a crappy job. I wonder what controls, if any, will be in place at BookGlutton to keep it from being clogged with ephemera. I’m not sure marginalia such as “The coolest!!!” and “Barforama!” are really very useful for the reading experience. But can the democratization of the web do anything to control them.
January 24th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Peter: Thanks for expressing one of my concerns. I know people like to be social and let their hair down. But sometimes this slows down the discussion of the actual substance of a book. I want relevant specifics; I want people to discuss characters and motives and plots and the rest. I suspect guidelines for participants can help. So can the presence of a good moderator. Trouble is, it’s hard enough to moderate even with regular BBS-style forums. Can a moderator really be online, for all of the real-time chat sessions, 24 hours a day? Just to be clear: I love the idea of BookGlutton—I just want people to be aware of the limitations o the chat medium. - David
January 25th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Um, a friend of mine took the pic that you are using at the top of your post, the one of the girl reading in the field…
I’m sure he’d appreciate a mention, rather than just linking the pic off Flickr with no credit. His name is Rob McGlynn and is an excellent photographer! Credit where credit is due!
January 25th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Hi, Rdas7. I agree with your concerns. The reason I didn’t mention the talented Rob by name is that the linking is another form of credit and a rather meaningful one on the Web (people do blind links to the TeleBlog constantly). It’s for time reason that I omitted the name. You know what would be cool and address these issues? Some kind of WordPress/Flickr plug in. Meanwhile, however, I’ll stick in an addendum with both Rob’s name and a link. Thanks for writing in. David
January 28th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
David,
I don’t quite understand what you mean when you say “linking is another form of credit” as the reason you posted the photo without mention of who took it. Surely credit is the point? Otherwise your visitors might think that you took the photo yourself?
I would have thought that a picture caption would be a more appropriate place to put such a mention, as there are several methods to do this in Wordpress.
Honestly, I’m not trying to be argumentative here (it’s just a little photo!), but I believe that this taps into a larger topic, related to the interactivity and books you discuss. As you yourself also use a Creative Commons license on your work, for required accreditation, use of Rob’s photo is no different than someone reposting your article verbatim and omitting your name as author?
January 28th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Hi Rdas. As noted, the link is credit, and I went out of my way to add Rob’s name at the end; and beyond that, it’s a time thing—I originate the overwhelming majority of the posts for the TeleBlog and am doing my best to serve my readers. Both WordPress and Microsoft Live Writer, which I use for composing, don’t exactly make instant work of captions. I’d love for that capability to be there–let me see if I can pass the suggestion to the WordPress side. I’d even like a “CC-licensed” to be able to appear automatically with a link. Ideally this could be built into WordPress rather than simply be a plug-in. Thanks. David