Against disliteracy 0 ▲ A working library 1 hour ago · 15 min read3012 words · Writing · hide Books are mortal. They die. A book is an act; it takes place in time, not just in space. It is not information, but relation. Le Guin, Always Coming Home, page 370 Reading has been ending ever since it began. Everything ends: this is the one immutable fact of the universe. Books and people and trees are all mortal and the destiny of every great library is to become so much dust. But it’s gauche to sing the funeral dirge while the subject is still up and walking. And the question of whether or not reading is ending right this moment seems always a little too eager, an effort to transform probabilities into certainties, predictions into prophecies, to peek inside the box with the cat without getting caught in a murder. A more fruitful question is, what is reading for? Why do it at all? Poet and typographer Robert Bringhurst proposes that reading “simply means paying attention to what’s in front of you and trying to make sense of it.”1 This is what he terms a “non-material” definition of… Commenting on Bubbles has been removed. Why? If you want to talk about this post, write to the author, use the comments on their blog if it has them, or reply with a "RE:" post on your own blog. Suggestions? feedback@bubbles.town
