extensions

On the same day Amazon releases its new e-book reader, a report is released stating Americans are reading less books, and we’re worse off for it. Coincidence?

Yeah, probably.

The problem with people not reading books has nothing to do with a need for an e-reader. In fact, the fun (pleasure…) of a book is its tactility, its dog-eared pages, the notes in the margins, you can throw it on the bed, etc. I don’t see e-readers replacing books any time soon.

As far as people not reading for fun, I have no idea. But presumably, at least in part, it’s the Internet, stupid, and the kind of transmedia storytelling that’s sucking up so many of the limited “what to do for fun” cycles of each day. Narratives are not incredibly rich, and it takes a lot of time to take it all in.

That reminds me. Heroes is on tonight…

One of the things on my list of “things to do if I ever have the time to do them” list, is read more comics. I used to read them a lot as a kid. Mostly DC and Marvel — Batman, Justice League, Fantastic Four. I was always so transfixed by both the idea of superpowers (and what kid isn’t?), as well as the rich, immersive narrative worlds that were created around these characters. Lots of texture for a form that’s basically a few boxes on a page.

But that was then. Only fairly recently, when the first X-Men movie came out, and even more so, with V For Vendetta, did I start thinking about the genre, re-appreciating it for what it is. And feeling somewhat nostalgic about this interest, maybe bordering a passion, I had when I was a kid.

Anyway, Watchmen is on top of my list to read next, and maybe over Winter break, I’ll have the chance to read it. And here’s a roundtable discussion about the graphic novel, which I’ll eventually get to read as soon as I finish reading the thing the discussion is about.