Words — Written in Stone or on the Wind
Some words endure and others don't. But why? Does the medium matter? Or does the relative permanence of words depend on their quality, without regard to the format in which we receive them?
In the Biblical account of the Ten Commandments God wrote the first version while Moses took down the second (see Exodus 34:1 35:28). Today's fleeting tweets, apparently written on the wind, may end up lasting as long as the Decalogue has, "inscribed" as they are in electronic form.
With the arrival of digital books and the growing number of devices that display them, I've been wondering, like many people, about the future of words printed on paper.
Imagine a continuum of books—at one end, those of great importance, like the Bible, "written in stone," and at the other end, ephemera, "written on the wind." Between these two poles all manner of books find a home, from the great books in which we discover the most abiding work of man to the romances and mysteries that meet our appetite for light entertainment. Perhaps soon the entire continuum of printed matter from the Bible to the Daily Racing Form will exist digitally. And much material will be available in both printed and digital versions.
How will we decide whether to read an electronic or printed version of a book?
The novel presents a suggestive case, I think. When I read a novel, I want to hold the actual book in my hands; I may mark it up, too. For me the fixity of the words printed on their pages helps set in my imagination the book's vivid scenes. I want the physical object to become part of my life, because holding and reading it helps me hold in mind the intellectual object, which the book represents.
Here's an example. I first read Middlemarch when I was in my early thirties. I reread it over twenty years later. Both times I read the same copy. I was covering the same ground—in my imagination and on the printed page. During the intervening years, the book sat on my bookshelf. My copy of Middlemarch was all there for me from my first reading to my second, and is still there. Is an electronic book all there in the same way?
If not, does that matter? Consider this comparison: Imagine you own a Kindle (or maybe you actually do own one). At amazon you can download a free electronic version of Middlemarch (edition unspecified) or you can go back to that paperback Middlemarch that's been sitting on your bookshelf for a couple of years. Which version will you read?
Paul Dry
Update: See the follow-up post for responses from customers.