Reading with Responsiveness – A.Jacobs

It has been some time since we quoted from Alan Jacobs (English professor at Wheaton College) and his recent book on reading, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction (Oxford, 2011). I have admitted here that this is not the easiest book on reading that I have read, nor has it always been pleasurable. But Jacobs does have good sections of thought in the book, and after referencing his part about reading “upstream” last time, we ought to call attention to the next section on “responsiveness” in reading – something that is also important for our reading.

After quoting from the infamous Italian politician and writer N.Machiavelli (The Prince) on his habit of reading at the end of the day and the way in which he interacted with the authors, Jacobs has this to say:

…One of the most noteworthy facts about his way of reading his intellectual masters is that it’s not passive – reverent, yes, but not passive. ‘I am not ashamed,’ he writes, ‘to speak with them and to ask them the reasons for their actions.’ He is not ashamed. He doesn’t feel somehow unworthy or unqualified to address them, and indeed to put them to the question, to call them to account for themselves and their ideas. Moreover, for all their greatness his auctors take no offense at his boldness: ‘they in their humanity reply to me.’

Now, had Machiavelli met any of those authors in real life, they might now have been so gracious. …But one of the wonderful things about books is that they don’t grow agitated or dismissive. They patiently bear all the scrutiny you choose to give them, and the more carefully you read them the more of their secrets they yield. It’s as though they are asking to be put to the question, announcing their readiness to be investigated (pp.53-54).

We will return to this thought at a later time, but worth pondering for now. Is this not part of the beauty of books and reading, as Jacobs says? How much do you respond to the things you read?

The Future of Books Looks a Lot Like Netflix – Wired.com

The Future of Books Looks a Lot Like Netflix | Wired Business | Wired.com.

I am rather skeptical about this concept being “the future of books”, and I rather doubt the widespread use and success of this idea, but it is always interesting to see what ideas are being tossed about in the book industry. According to Wired.com this idea of books paid for and delivered to your tablet like subscription magazines carries promise. We shall see.

I have also seen notice that the popularity of tablets and e-reading is easing already, which tells me the traditional print book is far from over. But, let the dreamers dream and the startups continue to start up different book ventures. As long as you are publishing something worth reading, people will buy it, no matter what the form may be.

Below is part of the “Wired” news item; find the rest at the link above.

Struggling against plunging prices and a shrinking audience, book publishers think they’ve found a compelling vision for the future: magazines.

Today, the San Francisco-based literary startup Plympton launched an online fiction service called Rooster. It’s sold by subscription. It’s priced by the month. And it automatically delivers regular content to your iPhone or iPad. In other words, it’s a book service that looks a lot like a magazine service. And it’s just the latest example of how books are being packaged like magazines.

With Rooster, readers pay $5 per month in exchange for a stream of bite-sized chunks of fiction. Each chunk takes just 15 minutes or so to read, and over the course of a month, they add up to two books. The service builds on the success of Plympton’s Daily Lit, which emails you classic literature in five-minute installments.