Précis 9

Turning the Page

The future of reading is backlit and bright by Anna Quindlen

The article

For every writer, their career stages - their first byline, column, hardcover - are marked by the appearance of their name in ink. Printed, not downloaded.

Still, it seems that the death of books brought about by technological progress has been announced too soon. Like film has not killed live theatre or recorder music live concerts, technology will not be the end of reading.

Onscreen reading will surely be increasing in the future, which will only bring complaints from both camps. Literary purists will bemoan the evanescence of onscreen print, while the techies will look down upon antideluvian paper.

So, maybe it is better to concentrate on the effects instead – in the last 50 years, reading has vastly intensified. The recent survey says that avid, book-buying readers are older and mostly female, while e-readers are used predominantly by middle-aged men. Where is the younger generation, though?
One of the most interesting text about the influence of technology on literacy rejects the notion that e-reading can be as satisfactory as a traditional one. Is that correct? Actually, some people seem to be reading more thanks to technology. After all, not so long ago people could not understand how a computer might be preferred to a typewriter.

Lamenting the expansion of e-reading seems as snobbish and silly as a condescending attitude towards people who prefer traditional means. Reading is both an intellectual and emotiona/spiritual experience. It is the soul of the book that counts, not its body – be it paper, a screen or an audio CD.



Vocabulary:

1. byline (n, countable) - a line at the beginning of a newspaper or magazine article that gives the writer's name: Writing for a magazine is a great way to get your first byline.
   
2. doom (n, uncountable) - very bad events or situations that cannot be avoided: The sailors had a sense/feeling of (impending) doom as the storm approached. ; The papers are filled with stories of gloom and doom.
   
3. antideluvian (adj, formal) - very old or old-fashioned: an antediluvian automobile; He has antediluvian notions/ideas about the role of women in the workplace.
   
4. knell (n, countable, literary) - a sound of a bell when it is rung slowly because someone has died: The mistake was the death knell for his campaign.; Many people thought that the Internet would sound/ring/toll the death knell for newspapers.
   
5. to smother (verb) - to kill (someone) by covering the face so that breathing is not possible: He tried to smother her with a pillow.
   - to cover (something) in order to keep it from growing or spreading: She smothered the fire with a blanket.

   - to try to keep (something) from happening, to try to stop doing (something): I tried to smother a yawn.

6. evanescent (adj, formal, literary) - lasting a very short time: evanescent fame; They had too little capital, some of which turned out to be evanescent when it was actually needed.
   
7. aficionado (n, countable) - a person who likes and knows a lot about something: an aficionado of poetry; sports aficionados
   
8. to hunker down (phrasal v) - to stay in a place for a period of time: The leaders hunkered down at a country estate for difficult peace negotiations.
   
9. to underlie (v) - to form the basis or foundation of (an idea, a process, etc.): We discussed the principles that underlay their methods. ; A theme of revenge underlies much of her writing.
   
10. impassioned (adj) - showing or feeling very strong emotions: Her lawyer made an impassioned argument in her defense. an impassioned speech/plea