About
6,000 years ago humans learned to write.
Egyptian hieroglyphics date back 5,200 years ago, and alphabet-based
writing dates to 3,000 years ago. But it seems a revolution in books has
occurred at two points – in the 1450’s with the invention of Gutenberg’s movable-type printing press, and in the 1990’s with the advent of the Internet, Amazon
and digital text. In reading The Case for
Books: Past, Present, and Future by Robert Darnton, you feel not only an
appreciation for the history of the book but also for its anticipated future.
Written
in 2009, this book is a wonderful tribute to books. The author states his objective in the
introduction, “This is a book about books, an unashamed apology for the printed
word, past, present, and future. It is
also an argument about the place of books in the digital environment that has
now become a fundamental fact of life for millions of human beings.”
He
concludes: “Books also refuse to be contained within the confines of a single discipline
when treated as objects of study.
Neither history, nor literature, nor economics, nor sociology, nor
bibliography can do justice to all aspects of the life of a book. By its very
nature, therefore, the history of books must be international in scale and
interdisciplinary in method but it need not lack conceptual coherence, because
books belong to circuits of communication that operate in consistent patterns,
however complex they may be. By
unearthing those circuits, historians can show that books do not merely recount
history, they make it.”
**************************************
“Books
are companions for life – and ideal companions at that. They are
constantly there when you need them, uncomplaining if cast aside, always ready
to continue the relationship wherever it left off. You can take a book
(paper or screen) on a plane or train, to the beach or to a hospital
appointment. Sitting alone in a café or restaurant becomes a less
solitary experience if you are accompanied by a book.
“Books,
at their best, can nourish the mind and liberate the spirit. They can
comfort, humor, thrill, intrigue and arouse. Reading can be a leisurely affair,
allowing time for reflection or to retrace one’s steps in an intricate
narrative. It can be a white-knuckle ride, pitching the reader, wide-eyed
and dry-mouthed into the on-rushing story. And few experiences are more
rewarding than reading to children, especially a much-loved book from one’s own
early years.”
--For
the Love of Books Stories of Literary Lives, Banned Books, Author Feuds,
Extraordinary Characters and More by Graham Tarrant
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
New
Year's Resolutions For Every Author
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/new-years-resolutions-for-all-authors.htmlThe Book Marketing Strategies Of Best-Sellers
How
Authors Can Sell More Books
No. 1
Book Publicity Resource: 2019 Toolkit For Authors -- FREE
How
Authors Get Bulk Sales Now
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.