This writeup is triggered by some of the online articles I came across in the last few months…
What drew my attention and got me thinking are the articles and interviews of famous authors. These online posts, some old and some recent ones, talked about how everyone is an author and no one wants to read books. And, how there is a total degradation of everything that good writing is all about. According to these authors, today’s writers seem to have little concern about basic grammar, word choice, spelling, and syntax. They said they don’t even want to talk about voices and tenses. then what to say about misused metaphors, similes.
Most of these prominent authors were of the opinion that these slipping standards, in general, were due to excessive use of digital media for reading and writing. The digital revolution has changed everything around us, from how we learn information to how we even do our day-to-day activities.
As is obvious we are heavily dependent on digital tools to write anything, from simple congratulatory messages to large fictional and nonfictional volumes. No doubt our work is simplified to a great extent as we can have any kind of information just by browsing the net. But this luxury comes with a cost.
Many of these authors detest the auto corrector for the blunders it creates if one is dependent. For instance, “there and their, illuminating and eliminating, the bear and bare”, can change the meaning of a sentence if one is not careful. A grammar checker has the power to transport the writer from arched corridors of Buckingham palace to stately passages of The White House, Washington D.C. depending upon how he chooses to spell color–colour, Neighbor-Neighbour… This crossing of the Atlantic could happen within a span of two paragraphs… hahaha
In addition to all these complaints, one major grievance these authors had is that of dwindling no of readers every year. There seem to be very few takers for any work that is elaborate and detailed. They observed that people prefer online magazines, FB posts, blogs, tweets and Instagram captions which are short and sweet. Most often than not, these are loosely packed write-ups that cover a single idea superficially without any depth. But there are exceptions everywhere.
Well, I’m just covering all the points I gathered from four-five posts and putting it here. The complaint list is long and quite true. And I’m guilty of most of the literary crimes mentioned by these prominent authors’. OMG !!! My anxiety and nervousness grew and touched all-time high as I pursued post after post to ascertain my follies. Imagine my plight and the agony to read up all this, having debuted as a blogger /writer recently. Phew…HAHAA
The one which affected me the most is that people are not reading enough. I’m the classic example, because I have not read a book for a long long time. But most definitely, I’m a book lover.
As I was lamenting on how I have developed a reading block, I came across tons of posts on FB and Instagram celebrating Book Lovers Day. Book Lovers Day is an unofficial holiday observed on 9th of August every year to encourage bibliophiles to celebrate reading and literature. People are advised to put away their smartphones and every possible technological distraction and pick up a book to read. Few of my friends took up the challenge to create awareness and promote literacy. They posted covers of books they enjoyed with no explanation and reviews for seven consecutive days.
To somehow salvage myself from this perturbed state I decided to draw up a list of books, which I have enjoyed with no explanations and reviews. So here are the seven books, which I enjoyed.
And yes, I have also included regional and common Indian language covers because I feel language literacy competency should not be restricted to the English Language only, especially in a multilingual country like India. Our regional language literature is so vast, rich, and rooted in our culture that deserves some importance and encouragement. So, our coming generations know a little bit of our heritage.
I would love to hear about your reading stories and to know the books you have enjoyed reading without explanation and reviews. Would be more excited if your list includes the same covers. For, holding the same covers increases the probability of we being on the same page.
Kalyani Sreedhar Kakade
This Adbhut Life! 