Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming
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randomuser
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Fiasco
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A great talk, but they’ll probably have to ban computer games first. 
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RomanoAmerio
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Dear Fiasco,A great talk, but they’ll probably have to ban computer games first.
I believe that there are some contemporary computer games (mostly made by independent developers) with a very high standard of writing and intricate plot lines. I personally have an acquaintance who is involved in game development, and I have found his writing much better than most of the fiction sold in airports.
There is also the whole genre of “visual novels” which my brother assures me are not just about dating personable young women.
Perhaps what is needed is not a ban on video games but a need to use cutting-edge technology to revive interest in old stories - and, of course, to tell new ones.
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SecretCatholic
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Read. Thanks.
The only thing I would change or add to the article is that we do have a responsibility to shelter kids from some kinds of books. I am not talking about things like Harry Potter. I am talking about books that present destructive ideologies as good- mainly propaganda books. I don’t think children should have caret-balnche access to all kinds of books. Parents have a responsibility to check out what their kids are reading and if its age-appropriate.
I used to go to the library and check out books all the time as a kid. My mom would discretely browse what I was reading, unbeknownst to me at the time. She never complained about anything I got though. And I would get lots of kinds of books. But these days, I think parents need to be vigilant. If anything- though we cannot sheild them from everything- we do need to be there to explain and guide them through the world.
From a relativist point of view any literature is okay. From a Catholic point of view, perhaps most literature is okay to read, but there are certainly limits.
I do hope libraries stick around. And I do believe that physical books will stick around. I’m not a digital snob, as too many people seem to be these days. I like to be able to read without electricity, accounts or electronic devices. I am still buying and collecting real books. Many of my new ones are from Catholic Answers.
The only thing I would change or add to the article is that we do have a responsibility to shelter kids from some kinds of books. I am not talking about things like Harry Potter. I am talking about books that present destructive ideologies as good- mainly propaganda books. I don’t think children should have caret-balnche access to all kinds of books. Parents have a responsibility to check out what their kids are reading and if its age-appropriate.
I used to go to the library and check out books all the time as a kid. My mom would discretely browse what I was reading, unbeknownst to me at the time. She never complained about anything I got though. And I would get lots of kinds of books. But these days, I think parents need to be vigilant. If anything- though we cannot sheild them from everything- we do need to be there to explain and guide them through the world.
From a relativist point of view any literature is okay. From a Catholic point of view, perhaps most literature is okay to read, but there are certainly limits.
I do hope libraries stick around. And I do believe that physical books will stick around. I’m not a digital snob, as too many people seem to be these days. I like to be able to read without electricity, accounts or electronic devices. I am still buying and collecting real books. Many of my new ones are from Catholic Answers.
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edwest2
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Well said. College students prefer actual books.
latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-92-percent-college-students-prefer-paper-over-pixels-20160208-story.html
campustechnology.com/articles/2015/09/01/survey-most-students-prefer-traditional-texts-over-ebooks.aspx
The chain bookstores have decided to use the kamikaze method so that they will mostly disappear. So, I go into a chain bookstore, with real books, but they want me to buy a reader that makes all that paper worthless. Why not skip the books and just sell readers? That way, the bookstores slowly die from self-inflicted wounds, and the profits drop.
I’ve been watching this slow bleed for a while and I find it impossible that no one has noticed. I prefer print books because I can get a book published in the 1800s for $80.00. And I need no electricity to read it. I will never own a reader.
I will never walk down the street, looking down at my multifunction, X dollars a month toy. I have a cell phone. I can’t text with it or want it to be anything but a phone.
Overstimulation is a problem. Instead of constantly engaging with digital bits, I take a little time out. To forget about it.
I’m not going to pay for some new technology when I can do other things that engage my mind, like daydream. As a creator myself, the imagination needs regular exercise, and once trained, can be easily used, like driving a car. No computer can make that learning curve go away. The same for art. I’ve seen “pretty” designs quickly rendered by artists who have no clue about proper design. They just put shapes together with no thought about the real world. Or how their “cool” design is not plausible. Fiction rests on being plausible and that means knowing about the real world and real things and how to extrapolate from all that.
And today, there is an ocean of propaganda out there. And books that go too far. As a writer, I set limits based on sound principles. I have to know how my writing will affect others. As a reader, I am sad to say that I’ve thrown several books in the trash for various reasons - mostly, useless sexual references and profanity in an otherwise good book. As a working editor, I highlight those words for the editor-in-chief, or replace or delete them. We’re family friendly.
Ed
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GKC
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Sound principles.
My paper mania does cause storage problems, though. 30,000 books is a lot of paper.
Spent 14 years in the book retail business, both chain store and rare/collectible. The brick and mortar stores are struggling, though the on-line sales seem to be keeping them afloat.
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edwest2
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Books are sold and resold. They are more widely available than ever before. And there are still used bookstores. You just have to ignore the porn, and one large one in my area does not have it.
Self-publishers means trees will continue to be cut down. But thanks to “print on demand,” that means they can print to order, saving storage space and eliminating unsold copies. We do that where I work. So, with no warehouse or office space, a publisher can work from home.
Ed
Self-publishers means trees will continue to be cut down. But thanks to “print on demand,” that means they can print to order, saving storage space and eliminating unsold copies. We do that where I work. So, with no warehouse or office space, a publisher can work from home.
Ed
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GKC
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I prefer the paper. Trees are renewable. And provide more paper. Which can be transformed into books, which I can buy, as desired. Bought 25 this week.
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GKC
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Logical for you.
My house is large. There is not room enough for all the books, simultaneously. Hence the two storage units, plus the attic and garage. I had to give up my 40 year dream of adding 1000 sq. feet as a dedicated library, last year. So it goes. Electronic reading doesn’t do it for me. Plus I’m a collector, in numerous areas, of 1st/1st editions/printings, signed, as often as possible.
Make that 27 books last week. It’s a hobby, has been for over 60 years.
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GKC
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My boyish manner and youthful exuberance have led you astray. Began consciously collecting books when I was about 11. Thus, for around 60+ years. I had a certain number of books given as gifts, etc, prior to that. My father had been casually collecting for many years before I was born. Two of my bookcases date from roughly the time he and my mother married. I’ve always lived among books.Let me do the math. You started collecting books when you were three?
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Crown_of_Stars
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Couldn’t agree more. There’s nothing quite like holding a real book in one’s own hands.
I don’t even like hardcovers, I prefer soft.
I’m sick of digital madness, and everyone walking around like zombies, tuning everything out except for the little screen in their hand. Before too long, they’ll be having a screen surgically implanted into their palm.
Well? I wouldn’t be surprised.
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Sarcelle
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I am one of those zombies.Couldn’t agree more. There’s nothing quite like holding a real book in one’s own hands.
I don’t even like hardcovers, I prefer soft.
I’m sick of digital madness, and everyone walking around like zombies, tuning everything out except for the little screen in their hand. Before too long, they’ll be having a screen surgically implanted into their palm.
Well? I wouldn’t be surprised.
I nearly got ran over by a city bus because I was too busy looking at my cell phone.
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