Me neither.
This is the electronic age - the digital age, isn’t it?
The one which promised us so much more leisure time?
Perhaps, but it brought a vast amount of new ways to use it.
I was recently browsing through a list of the “100 Best Novels and Books of all Time” (there are several lists, all different to some degree.) when it occurred to me that I hadn’t read a serious book in quite a while. In fact, I could only identify about half the books on the list which I have ever read. For an English major and a self-fancied writer, that’s a terrible admission. I plan to rearrange my Bucket List accordingly.
I doubt whether I can read them all at this point, however. I have spent too many years chasing other dragons. Besides, there are several I want to read for at least a second time.
In perusing the list, one can’t help noticing that publishing dates are fairly equally represented from the late 1700s until the present. The 20th century is well represented by Steinbeck, Hemingway, Margaret Mitchell, et al.
“Gravity’s Rainbow” by Thomas Pinchon is the latest to make the list in 1973. I confess, I have not read this book. Some classics were written as far back as the sixteen and seventeen hundreds, “Don Quixote” in 1607 and “Robinson Crusoe” in 1719 being two of the best known. Those were required reading, and I’m glad they were.
Why so many great books written during this relatively brief window in history?
Why so many written during the 1800s but none added to the list since 1973? Well, it’s an arbitrary list, of course, chosen by educators, publishers, writers and to a degree the general public.
As previously mentioned, there are more than a few lists of the “Top 100,” but some include works of non-fiction, philosophy and even religion. The Top 100 Novels would presumably have been chosen, as works of fiction, for their literary value and impact on society, but the line is not as precise as it might appear. William James and Thomas Hardy, for example, were well known for poetry, social comment and philosophy. Their masterful novels augmented other works.
Non of this is meant to say that great books are no longer being written. A brief list of great modern-day writers would include William Styron, Henry Roth, John Updike, Pat Conroy, John Irving, Harper Lee, et al. If you read a lot, you could make your own list.
I suppose, though, that to compose a top 100 list, you would have to knock some off in order to add some new ones. This strongly suggests that the whole concept of limiting the list to 100 is flawed.
Great books spring from great themes. They are drawn from the undercurrent of life in a way which is as enlightening as it is thrillingly familiar.
We become absorbed in a world we know dimly in our sub-conscious. We identify with symbols and character traits. Emotions are stirred. Responses are triggered. We are taken from our mundane, ordinary lives and placed in fantastic situations where we must participate in a resolution of some consequence. Feelings, thoughts, intellect are drawn from us in ways we never knew existed. Our very being is challenged as we accept or reject the vicarious transference to another reality.
When it all takes place within a great universal theme - love, hate, life, death, the advent or decline of humanity, man’s cruelty or heroism, the ultimate justification for human existence - and when it is handled with the superb inspired words of a gifted storyteller, then we have a great work for the ages. Works of this kind ultimately separate themselves from the flock. They eventually make someone’s list - rightfully so.
Reading and writing skills developed exponentially beginning in the 1600s. The printing press made written works available to the general public for the first time. Political systems slowly, grudgingly allowed average citizens under their umbrella. Personal equality and individual integrity became more within reach and encouraged. A paradigm shift in society reached critical mass and a new age began - one which is still evolving. The discovery and development of America was a quantum leap. Majestic themes were in great supply.
Man’s place in society was openly scrutinized and his inner psychological makeup dissected. In the hands of gifted storytellers, these became new milestones of literature.
Fascinating, stimulating stories are continuously being written. Many are excellent. Many are consummately entertaining. In spite of the digital age (in some ways because of it) more books are being written and read. It appears, though, that the emphasis is on “fast food” for the mind. Even great writers like Dickens, however, were once paid by the page or sometimes by the word, so perhaps we shouldn’t be too critical.
I am as guilty as anyone for not elevating my consciousness, widening my understanding and broadening my perspective by allowing some of the great authors to speak to me.
I’m growing weary of some television producer’s version of “Reality.” I want to be transported to a reality beyond wardrobe doors. I want to be engaged and inspired. I have made a pledge to myself to make a strong effort to achieve that. All it took was a timely reminder as I was browsing the Internet.
Well, let’s hear it for the Digital Age, after all!
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