Some novel ideas but the essence is that books matter.

A collection of essays on books and reading. I particularly loved the one that describes his time working in a book store.

This book is organized in three parts, and the first, which focuses on the process of reading, is the best. Birkerts argues that something nearly spiritual happens when we read that doesn't happen with other activities. A self-proclaimed Luddite, Birkerts suggests that reading alters time and leads to duration, where authors have authority and readers reconstruct their souls. After an excellent beginning, the book becomes a bit heavy handed. Overall, I think the author had some prescient things to say.

I had to read this grumpy man's half baked musings for grad school otherwise I would not have finished it.

A generous two stars solely because Birkerts drawn out description of his relationship with reading made me reflect on my own for the first time. It was a genuinely beautiful exercise that has filled me love for reading. He helped me to realize that I've never been alone as a "reader." But I'm not a bibliophile nor do I determine what the proper way to engage with the written word is. His distaste for change and narrow view of what is acceptable literature is grating as it continues throughout the book. Very whiny, even for a critic.

This book spoke to me about the loss of wisdom we are experiencing in our culture as a result of electronics that speed up our sense of time. Sound bites. Speed that our brain tries to keep up with. When I read this I was in an intensive of Continuum Movement titled Portals of Perception surrounded by rolfers. Sven is an intellectual who weaves incredibly rich sentences. I have his newest book on my list, The Art of Time in Memoir, part of teh Graywolf series on craft. He is the perfect author for this book and I am excited about delving into his words again.

Scary prognosis...

A strong argument for why reading literature in book form is so important, exactly at the time when readers are abandoning books for newer modes and technologies (Kindle, electronic downloads, etc.)--or, sadly, not reading at all. Birkerts also makes a compelling case for solitary contemplation, facilitated through books, in an age where everything is becoming connected on all fronts. The reader can tell Birkerts is partially in awe of the new technologies, but mostly heartbroken as he realizes how the culture has shifted seismically away from his beloved books over the past quarter-century. If we avoid the traps Birkerts warns against, "The Gutenberg Elegies" just may become a modern classic, a "Walden" for the readers of this century.

The first 1/3 of this book is beautiful. The author takes his time explaining how books have changed his life and how books impact us on a daily basis. He talks about his idea of "deep time" which is time that we don't know is passing because we are so enmeshed with our books. After the first 1/3 of the book, though, he kind of goes downhill. The next 2/3 of the book are a pretentious and pedantic verbal abuse of electronic technology and high-minded literary criticism. It's interesting and informative, but for the most part I feel like he is giving up on the idea of electronic technology helping us learn and change. Of course I see technology as being a type of demon too, in that it can absorb us into itself and we become part of some horrible cyclic machine that never lets us outside. However, I believe it's important to have a balance of "deep time" and "electronic time" in one's life. Too much of one leaves us blind to the other side of life.

Theory (5 Stars).

Sven Birkerts is the Man. I will spend more time over the next few days writing a tighter review, even striving to find a good quote to sum up his thesis is hard.