September 11, 2007
I have a quick gripe.
Last Sunday before I picked Annie up, I went to the mall to buy some things. One of the things I wanted to buy was a new book.
There is a store in the mall that sells nothing but ball caps. They seem to keep up a business.
However, there are no bookstores in the mall. There used to be two. I have tried to convince myself that it is because bookstores have gotten so large that they have to have a coffee shop, and places for people to read without buying anything. But, I am not sure. Libraries are dying left and right, and bookstores are becoming larger and more scarce. I find it a frightening description of society. Does no one read anymore? Maybe we are buying our books online. I don't know.
If you get the chance, read Michael Ende's The Neverending Story. It is incredible if you get it in the right format. I won't get deep into it, but it was a great book not only in the writing, but in the presentation. He describes a story that indicates the need for imagination, but the danger in letting it get carried away. Balance in everything, right? I struggle to see it today. Sometimes, Annie and I read out loud, and I encourage her to read with emotion. She gets it, and when we do it together she does a beautiful job. I tried to encourage a neighbor kid one time in this area. It was horrible. Granted, she was not interested, but I tried anyway. I went home and got my compilation of Edgar Allen Poe to coincide with something she was doing at school. I asked her to read a story. It was the most monotone and uninterested thing I'd ever heard. I think I tried some Shakespeare as well. Nothing.
We have become so engrossed in the visual media that we have lost the ability to experience the excitement that what we conjure in our own minds far exceeds what Hollywood can provide. Good book? Wait for the movie. The brain has become a motor that moves slower and slower. Images that are not instigated by a CRT or an LCD have apparently vanished. Why create it in my own mind if it will appear on its own?
It's very sad. I make Annie read every day. When she starts, she is a bit resentful, but when she finishes, she is very excited. Reading breeds independence, it breeds change, it breeds motion, it breeds change.
Don't kill the written language.
Turn it all off, and read a book...
Last Sunday before I picked Annie up, I went to the mall to buy some things. One of the things I wanted to buy was a new book.
There is a store in the mall that sells nothing but ball caps. They seem to keep up a business.
However, there are no bookstores in the mall. There used to be two. I have tried to convince myself that it is because bookstores have gotten so large that they have to have a coffee shop, and places for people to read without buying anything. But, I am not sure. Libraries are dying left and right, and bookstores are becoming larger and more scarce. I find it a frightening description of society. Does no one read anymore? Maybe we are buying our books online. I don't know.
If you get the chance, read Michael Ende's The Neverending Story. It is incredible if you get it in the right format. I won't get deep into it, but it was a great book not only in the writing, but in the presentation. He describes a story that indicates the need for imagination, but the danger in letting it get carried away. Balance in everything, right? I struggle to see it today. Sometimes, Annie and I read out loud, and I encourage her to read with emotion. She gets it, and when we do it together she does a beautiful job. I tried to encourage a neighbor kid one time in this area. It was horrible. Granted, she was not interested, but I tried anyway. I went home and got my compilation of Edgar Allen Poe to coincide with something she was doing at school. I asked her to read a story. It was the most monotone and uninterested thing I'd ever heard. I think I tried some Shakespeare as well. Nothing.
We have become so engrossed in the visual media that we have lost the ability to experience the excitement that what we conjure in our own minds far exceeds what Hollywood can provide. Good book? Wait for the movie. The brain has become a motor that moves slower and slower. Images that are not instigated by a CRT or an LCD have apparently vanished. Why create it in my own mind if it will appear on its own?
It's very sad. I make Annie read every day. When she starts, she is a bit resentful, but when she finishes, she is very excited. Reading breeds independence, it breeds change, it breeds motion, it breeds change.
Don't kill the written language.
Turn it all off, and read a book...