30 Novels, day 25: The latest innovation in reading
Yesterday's post about Michael Ende's Momo reminded me that sometimes one needs to take a little time off. So today, instead of a review, I offer this brief excerpt from my book about books, The Logogryph:
For those readers with no time for relaxed,
contemplative involvement in fiction, this novel offers a delightful
alternative. The substance of its original nine-hundred page bulk has been
judiciously plucked, abridged, pulverized, filtered, dried and reconstituted;
then this concentrated version is repackaged in a contemporary and easily
accessible form.
And
yet, despite what you fear at first, this is still the finest quality
literature, straightforwardly thematic, engaging, innovative, devoid of the
extravagances of authorial self-indulgence, and savouring of a keen insight
into the human condition. Poignant, riveting, and unobtrusive enough that it
can be enjoyed while watching television, working at the computer, talking on
the cell-phone in rush-hour traffic. And perhaps best of all, no unpleasant
afterimages or ethical dilemmas linger past the reading to trouble the rest of
your day.
This
is, in short, the latest innovation in the technology of effortlessness: a
novel that allows you to not read.
No comments:
Post a Comment