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distant.star · 09-06-2010, 11:56 PM

I came across an interesting statement in The New York Times recently. It's in a piece discussing the HBO Network's upcoming new show "Boardwalk Empire." Discussing historical research they said:

The research even extended to the way people talked in the ’20s. “I didn’t want it just to be a caricature, where everybody was saying ‘23 skidoo’ all the time,” Mr. Winter explained, and so he studied old newspapers and magazines and carefully read the documentarylike novels of John Dos Passos. Books, of all things, are prominent props in “Boardwalk Empire.” One of the characters is reading a novel by Henry James; another keeps a copy of Sinclair Lewis with him.

“I hate to say it, but before TV people spoke better and were better read than we are,” Mr. Winter said. “They were probably more literate.”

This made me wonder if people who highly value books and reading, and by extension literacy, would prefer to live in a time when books and authors were revered. Someone at the water cooler might actually raise a discussion from "The Great Gatsby." On the other hand, we might prefer to live in an age of reduced literacy where we can individually access countless great books on inconspicuous little electronic reading devices.

So, I ask the question. If you had to choose...?

09-06-2010, 11:56 PM	#1
distant.star I would prefer not to. Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Sierra foothills Device: Kindle	When Would You Rather Live Your Life? I came across an interesting statement in The New York Times recently. It's in a piece discussing the HBO Network's upcoming new show "Boardwalk Empire." Discussing historical research they said: The research even extended to the way people talked in the ’20s. “I didn’t want it just to be a caricature, where everybody was saying ‘23 skidoo’ all the time,” Mr. Winter explained, and so he studied old newspapers and magazines and carefully read the documentarylike novels of John Dos Passos. Books, of all things, are prominent props in “Boardwalk Empire.” One of the characters is reading a novel by Henry James; another keeps a copy of Sinclair Lewis with him. “I hate to say it, but before TV people spoke better and were better read than we are,” Mr. Winter said. “They were probably more literate.” This made me wonder if people who highly value books and reading, and by extension literacy, would prefer to live in a time when books and authors were revered. Someone at the water cooler might actually raise a discussion from "The Great Gatsby." On the other hand, we might prefer to live in an age of reduced literacy where we can individually access countless great books on inconspicuous little electronic reading devices. So, I ask the question. If you had to choose...?