Jonathan Franzen: e-books are damaging society

[QuantumIguana]

Attempting to keep control of a book by not releasing it as an e-book is futile, someone will scan it, and then all you have are copies that you're not getting paid for. Some control is always lost simply by allowing others to read it. Readers often interpret books differently than the authors intended.

I've run into a few people who were disturbed by the idea that some day, in the distant future, their books will enter the public domain, and this people will be free to reinterpret them or make derivative works. We should be so lucky to have books that still interest people even after the copyright has expired.

The only books that an author has total control over are those that are not published or those that no one reads. A truly successful book becomes part of the culture. Love it or loathe it, the digital era is here to stay.

[MrsJoseph]

The argument Franzen has with ebooks makes me think he was trained as a literary critic at one time - a lot of them have issues with mass communications.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

For those of us who enjoy reading literary works, Franzen is an important Amercian writer who won the National Book Award for Fiction, for "The Corrections." (It was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was short-listed for a number of other important awards.)

His awards/reviews also sparked a bit of bitching by Jennifer Weiner and other women authors who put him forth as an example of sexism in the literary field, thus unleashing what passes for a shitstorm in certain circles.

Also, if irony has its way, he will be the next person to absolutely LOVE his new kindle.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

He's talking about the alleged superiority of paper as a book medium, and believes that paper has a level of permanence that he believes is not available with ebooks.

Well, which would you rather accidentally drop in the toilet? (Not that I have done that often; I've done it once which was QUITE ENOUGH and I never was able to bring myself to touch that book again...)

Ebooks and paper books both have advantages and paper books have the advantage of not needing technology to decode and, *depending on the storage, handling, and quality of paper used* may last anywhere from 1 day to several hundred years, which is certainly a mixed advantage. And yes, I have handled a book from the 1400s, under careful supervision of a rare books specialist--and dropped a (completely different paperback) book into the toilet the day after I bought it

But I digressed and am editing to finish up--I think a good mix of electronic and print for books is healthy, and spreads out the risk. Even libraries, who are rightly cautious about getting things that will last as long as possible and being good stewards of taxpayer funds are investing in both these days.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Joykins

Well, which would you rather accidentally drop in the toilet? (Not that I have done that often; I've done it once which was QUITE ENOUGH and I never was able to bring myself to touch that book again...

I do have a warranty on the e-Reader...

[Elfwreck]

"consumers had been conned into thinking that they need the latest technology."

What, ereaders? Ereaders are 10+ years old. It's the people with iPads who've been duped into "the latest technology" game.

"it’s going to be very hard to make the world work if there’s no permanence like that."

Yes, if we removed ALL PAPER RECORDS and went to digital only, crucial parts of government & academia would indeed collapse. And if we burned all our existing books, we'd be at the mercy of software & hardware companies for access to our history. I somehow missed the part of the ebook revolution where we started demanding an end to paper.

"Someone worked really hard to make the language just right, just the way they wanted it. They were so sure of it that they printed it in ink, on paper."

No, someone wanted to make sure the words were in the right order. SOMEONE ELSE made sure it got onto paper in just that shape, and that person picked the arrangement they thought would sell best. In the mainstream publishing industry, authors don't do layout.

"I think the combination of technology and capitalism has given us a world that really feels out of control. If you go to Europe, politicians don’t matter. The people making the decisions in Europe are bankers."

Unlike in the US, of course.

[hidari]

Indeed, amazing how at this stage in the 21st century more women writers are not praised in Literary Circles.

Originally Posted by Joykins

His awards/reviews also sparked a bit of bitching by Jennifer Weiner and other women authors who put him forth as an example of sexism in the literary field, thus unleashing what passes for a shitstorm in certain circles.

Also, if irony has its way, he will be the next person to absolutely LOVE his new kindle.

[Jobby]

Oh, these newfangled 'car' things are all fine and well, but you just can't replace the smell of a horse.

[hidari]

Originally Posted by Jobby

Oh, these newfangled 'car' things are all fine and well, but you just can't replace the smell of a horse.

nor the huge amounts of effervescent horse dung that used to line the streets......

instead now we get lots of CO2.....

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by hidari

Indeed, amazing how at this stage in the 21st century more women writers are not praised in Literary Circles.

Weiner had a point but Franzen probably didn't deserve what she flung at him.

[montalex]

I have sympathy for Franzen. He is afraid that the things he loves will disappear. And they will, as will all things that we love, in time. Our only recourse is to read now -- to love now, and hold not the things we love as trophies, immutable triggers of our jealousies.

[SilverBear]

As I sagely opined in an earlier post in this thread, [condensed], "sod Franzen and the pretensions he's cleverly trying to ride into the public view upon!."

Look, I LOVE PAPER! I have more than a thousand hardbound books in my attic that I've collected over 4-5 decades. I've never been able to also afford to build bookcases for them, so that my home can also be a community resource centre. . . but apparently lovely, idealistic dreams are meant to be stillborn in this cruel universe.

Within recent years my "dream" has become WAY more realistic due to digital tech and ebook proliferation.

I'll sit for an hour or more with a like-minded friend and rhapsodise about the feel, the smell, and the taste of a fine old hardbound. . .
BUT I am much more concerned with getting the full range of nourishment to everyone who is hungry for knowledge --than I am concerned with playing "refined old gourmand"!
VIVA EBOOKS!

[QuantumIguana]

The things he loves will not disappear. People said that recorded music would destroy live music. It didn't. People still sing, people still play instruments, people still pay to hear singers. The live experience gives them something they don't get with recordings, even if the singer being recorded is more talented than the person they listen to live.

People said that movies would eliminate live theater. It hasn't. It's not as big as it used to be, but there is still plenty of it. People said that home video would kill movie theaters. It hasn't. People still like to go to the movies, not just because it is the only place to see the movies for months, but because of the huge screen, the experience of going to the theater, and seeing the movie with other people. Some people hate movie theaters, and hate the crowds. That's fine, but we're a social species, many people like doing things with other people. The State Fair would be awful if it wasn't at least a little bit crowded.

Video games hasn't replaced board games, there are still is a large shelf of board games in stores. So, I don't think paper books are going to go away. They share of the market for paper books is likely to decrease, but it isn't going to decrease all the way. There will be high quality paper books for people's favorites, and print on demand as well.

[John A. A. Logan]

The deep irony here, so deep that I'm surprised Mr Franzen wandered into this subject area of "hard copy having more of a sense of permanence", is that when the UK edition of his novel FREEDOM was published in 2010, he was invited on to a BBC arts programme to do a reading from the novel. He had to stop mid-reading, red-faced, as he realised that the UK edition of his novel was not the version that had been supposed to go to press. Thousands of copies of the hardback subsequently had to be pulped. Readers who had already bought it were offered refunds by British book-shops. Even more ironical, however, was that the novel had already been reviewed and no critic had noticed the typos and other mistakes that necessitated the book's hard-copy recall.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by SilverBear

As I sagely opined in an earlier post in this thread, [condensed], "sod Franzen and the pretensions he's cleverly trying to ride into the public view upon!."

Yeah, but why impugn his motives? And why assume that he's being pretentious? I mean, I don't particularly agree with him, but I don't really think that he's being pretentious...I just think while some of his points about the advantages of pbooks might be true, he has failed to consider the many advantages that e-books bring. That's not pretentious, though.

And I don't at all get what you mean about him "trying to ride into public" view on this. Do you even know who he is? If so, why do you think giving an interview critical of e-books to a newspaper would rank more than selling millions of critically acclaimed books, winning major writing awards, and being the subject of numerous interviews, articles, and TV programs?

I'll sit for an hour or more with a like-minded friend and rhapsodise about the feel, the smell, and the taste of a fine old hardbound. . .
BUT I am much more concerned with getting the full range of nourishment to everyone who is hungry for knowledge --than I am concerned with playing "refined old gourmand"!
VIVA EBOOKS!

Again, it's fine that you disagree with him. But I think your assumption that he somehow doesn't believe what he's saying is, well, not based on facts and gratuitously insulting to Franzen.