Many spots around the interweebs have mentioned this insanely stupid interview by Jonathan Franzen, in which he says such brilliant things as
“Maybe nobody will care about printed books 50 years from now, but I do. When I read a book, I’m handling a specific object in a specific time and place. The fact that when I take the book off the shelf it still says the same thing – that’s reassuring.”
and
If printed books do become obsolete in the next 50 years, Franzen is pleased that at least he won’t have to see it. “One of the consolations of dying is that [you think], ‘Well, that won’t have to be my problem’.”
Here’s to hoping that Mr. Franzen was quoted wildly out of context, because there’s nothing to say to that other than, “Oy gevalt.”
Let me help you out with this, Jonathan: the medium is not the message.
A physical book is just a thing.
(Also, Luddism isn’t nearly as cute as Luddites seem to think it is. But I’ll save that for another time.)
When Darin and I moved from Los Angeles back to the Silicon Valley, I think we donated about 30 boxes of books to whatever charity organization we were gifting with our things. When we moved from the house into the rental house at the beginning of the remodel, I think we got rid of another 30 boxes. When we moved from the rental back into the house, we were so determined to get rid of physical objects that even though we’d started to move to mostly e-books, we still had another 20 boxes of books we gave away.
We didn’t give away the ideas.
We didn’t give away the amazing writing (or lack thereof — you know who I’m talking about).
We gave away the things.
We had several bookcases built into our house, mostly by the front door and in my office), and that’s pretty much all the bookcases we need. If I really went for it, I could get rid of at least a third of the books in my office and not even notice.
Here’s the thing, Jonathan: in today’s brave new world, you can still have a book on paper if you really need it. There are tons and tons of print-on-demand places — in fact, your big fancy-schmancy publishers are probably using the same POD outfits that self-published authors are. We just don’t have to, anymore. Now I can have my books any time, anywhere I want.
You know what else I can have, Jonathan?
- Bigger print anytime, if I want it, without having to pay the exorbitant large-print edition prices.
- A copy of the book seconds after I hear about it.
- Books that have been out on the market more than 3 months. Try that in a bookstore, these days.
I don’t want to fill my house with more stuff. I still want to read lots of books. E-books are an awesome way to fulfill both of those needs.
Besides which: bookstores are not really great places right now. For one thing, they’re hard to find: here in Silicon Valley, where we’re all living in the future, there’s a Barnes and Noble at the Pruneyard, and a Barnes and Noble over on Stevens Creek and…uh…yeah, that’s all I got. The biggest independent bookstore in the area I can think of (actually, to be honest, its the only indie bookstore I can think of) is Kepler’s, which closed once in 2005 and, now with the retirement of the owner effective today, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it went out of business again real soon now. There are NO Barnes and Nobles in the entire city of San Francisco (although they do have more independent bookstores).
I knew Borders was going to go out of business when I realized that their entire floor design was built around their bargain books giveaway, which was always placed right inside the front door, no matter what Borders I went to. Barnes and Noble, which I always liked better because they were far, far more likely to actually have the book I was looking for, has replaced its yards and yards of bookshelves with games and caps and other knickknacks most decidedly un-booklike.
Making it far more likely that they don’t have the book I’m looking for anyhow. Chain bookstores haven’t made discovering new books a better task for the past number of years. An independent bookstore like Kepler’s is great for that (always found something on their tables), but they’re 25 miles away. And I don’t like to be the kind of person who discovers something in a shop and then buys it online — if I discover it in your store, you deserve the sale.
And as I’ve said: I don’t want physical books any more.
So we’ll keep our collections of Terry Pratchett books and Patrick O’Brien books and the Harry Potter series on paper. And a really kickass beautifully laid-out and photographed cookbook collection. But 99% of the time I don’t need actual physical books to enjoy them, Jonathan. I read them for the words. That’s what I remember about the experience. Not how whatever device — Kindle, iPhone, or paper and cardboard — felt in my hand.
Oh, and that book smell people are always yammering on about? Glue and mold, among other things. You’re welcome.
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Update: There’s an article in the paper about Kepler’s challenges and how they’re planning on facing them.
I do miss bookstores. Not the current Barnes & Noble, recent Borders or even Kepler’s. I miss the bookstores from the age before computer literature. The little one-of-a-kind sellers. Especially the used variety.
There’s something about browsing shelves of old, dusty volumes; finding little treasures and taking them home; sharing those with friends. It’s hard to beat that.
As for the physical books themselves, not so much. I don’t have no room for them anymore either. But until Amazon and others really move into the 21st century with a lending policy not authored by Satan’s or the MPAA’s own lawyers, then I’m afraid I’ll keep having to buy at least a few of them.
I didn’t know Clark was retiring. As an ex-Kepler’s employee, I’ve felt a tidge guilty about my strong preference for iBooks. I keep going in there and maybe getting something that’s not in e-book form yet, or maybe getting nothing. We’ve been giving away books by the bushel and re-buying them electronically. Or not.
I guess if a bookstore has the added value of “These books are interesting” rather than “These books were published recently,” then it’s a good place. But bookstores haven’t been like that for a long time. (I seem to remember Borders had a policy of having employees put up little cards near books they found interesting. But of course Borders stopped hiring book-lovers to work there, so…)
We have definitely rebought some books electronically!
Without addressing your larger point, I’ll note that Books Inc. has an excellent branch in downtown Mountain View (it’s where I buy most of my new science fiction books these days), and also one I haven’t been to in Palo Alto. And there are several excellent used bookstores around Silicon Valley (I can think of four without even trying).
I’d honestly be surprised if any of those stores were within 5 miles of my house, because I can’t name one. That Books Inc in Mountain View is 16 miles away. That’s not a minor trip for me; that’s something I would have to plan to visit.
I think littler stores like Books Inc. have a much better chance of survival in the next 5 years, honestly, because of the value they add simply in pointing to books and saying, “We’ve read this and it’s really good.” If you have a staff that actually reads, that’s really valuable. Borders and B&N haven’t had that for years (for the most part–I stopped asking the staff for help many, many visits ago).