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Home › Entertainment

Liz Smith | 02/08/2009 11:00 pm

Liz Smith's Great Escape

By Liz Smith RSS
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In response to: The late John Updike railed against digitization of books. Does the Kindle et al threaten the intimacy, sacredness of reading?
Liz Smith

The Kindle probably does threaten the changes you cite about reading books, but at the same time every new invention changes the status quo. If you want intimacy, privacy and the sacredness of reading – you usually have to work for it. And for that matter, my mother, always threatened by my "sacredness of reading" — because she felt reading was a drug and I should go outdoors and play – used to drive me crazy.

I once had a birthday party where I received a new book about the the Wizard of Oz. I climbed a tree and started reading and forgot about my own party. But of course I was interrupted and had to come back down to earth.

So nothing changes; something is always "at" you when you try to read and concentrate. It’s just different things for different eras.

Click here on this text to read my New York Post column.

Read more about: Arts, Books, Culture, Entertainment, Intimacy, John Updike, Kindle, Reading, Society, Technology

2 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

jules verne
It is 2009 and not everyone has gotten rid of their land line (including me), not everyone has the latest and greatest. People still use the postal service, they still watch one of the three main networks for their news, they still shop locally instead of on the internet, etc. Don’t get freaked out, it will take decades for it to make a dent in the print book industry.
By jules verne on 02/09/2009 6:13 pm
Dancing Scribe
As a grown woman, but not yet considered "of an age", I relish every moment spent within the pages, made of actual fibers, of a book. The digital varieties that are slowly beginning to pervade our culture lift my spirit when I consider that other great and powerful force in my life: wanderlust! The thought of being able to travel with more than a small selection of titles, without requiring an extra suitcase, steamer trunk, or porter to heft them, has created a feverish frenzy in me, knowing that I will have so many worlds at my fingertips even as I soar thousands of miles above new adventures.
By Dancing Scribe on 05/01/2009 3:13 pm