Online Literature: Friend or Foe?
In today’s world when a persons thinks about reading online they think convenience, speed, and about the abundance of knowledge. The vast majority of information collected in the World Wide Web allows anyone to have the texts they desire at the click of a button. This brilliant advancement continues to gather human achievements in a singular location, which has created an age of technological education that can be experienced by any person with access to a computer. I have chosen a website that has a collection of over 25,000 texts for free, and it is formatted to look like an open book. The website is called bookrix.com, and it is a legitimate form of writing that is absolutely beneficial to an educational institution due to the massive collection of literature and immediate access.
Novels were once seen as frivolous pieces of work that should only be enjoyed on ones free time, and now they are commonly used tools for educational purposes. The same can be said about the up and coming texts being presented over the internet. New information or techniques are always seen as controversial until people can fully understand the effects of the recently acquired technology. Personally, since I have grown up in the age of both online texts accompanied with tangible ones, I have been able to see that both are beneficial to developing my knowledge. The online website allows me to view any full book without having to search libraries or bookstores endlessly for misplaced novels or out of stock merchandise. This online compilation of texts is an innovation that will continue to further the knowledge of anyone who chooses to see it as advancement in learning rather than a hindrance.
The ideas presented by Birkerts would suggest that our generation is moving towards disregarding traditional ways of reading and replacing them with internet based alternatives. Birkerts says, “I see instead a steady displacement of old by new, a generational pressure that escalates its momentum gathering as the members of the old dispensation age and die off”. (Birkerts 214) Though this is an understandable fear for traditionalists, the internet actually better preserves the information that the past provides us. By compiling it on the internet it will always be present in cyber-space and thus the new technology is actually a beneficial advancement. Information from the online texts found on my website help to give millions access to literature that is being preserved, and not altered to become some abomination to its original copy.
Online texts have become my generation’s link to the past through literature. Where as libraries and bookstores can not always provide people with the information they seek, the internet provides a promise of instant gratification. The texts are not changed from the original and are simply posted to the internet for greater access. The fact that the texts are on a computer screen and not on paper should make absolutely no difference in the amount of information taken from it, let alone the readers experience with the literature. A book can be enjoyed no matter where you read it, so why not be able to do that from a personal computer? Reading is supposed to be an enjoyable experience and it is wrong to think that the vessel on which the literature lies should make any difference on the ability to learn from it.
When one is reading it is assumed that it is a solitary action to take place in a calm quiet area. Bookrix.com has altered that perception that enjoying a novel must be in private. Birkerts says, “We will all spend more and more of our time in the cybersphere producing, sending, receiving, and responding, and necessarily less time interacting in a “hands on” way with the old material order”, which is true but more beneficial than he may realize. (Birkerts 215) By using the forums on the website to discuss the books, people are able to see different points of view and information they may have missed when reading the text. The website allows for books to be seen in a whole new way due to the now thriving social network. Humans are naturally social creatures and this website creates a place where people who enjoy literature can come together and share the enjoyment of reading.
The social aspect of reading on the internet should be seen as an innovation, and not as something detrimental to society as Birkerts would suggest. By creating the website Bookrix.com people are able to do what comes naturally, and that is to come together in a social setting. The idea that a person can obtain this level of social connection without even leaving the house allows for a new age of communication. The only sole difference between the online world and a text is the aspect of social networking. Reading should be experienced in whatever way best illuminates the message of the book and through the networking greater detail and insight are shed on the novels.
Digital texts and print books present the same information, yet are seen as two completely different things. Birkerts says, “The aura is there when we stand in front of the original of a painting, and is absent when we are before the copy-even if the copy is so faithful as to be nearly identical”. (Birkerts225) I find this statement to be completely irrelevant when speaking about books because the written word still maintains its power no matter what medium it is presented in. The website Bookrix.com presents texts in a way that emulates a tangible text. When truly enjoying a book one should not focus on the vessel that carries the message but the message itself. Birkerts focuses solely on the past and therefore can never see that books are timeless no matter how they are presented to a reader.
The internet is a place meant for exploration and expansion of technology and knowledge. Reading is one of the many advances that have taken on a new life through the internet, and it has caused a revolution. Information is now easily transferred and shared with anyone who has a similar interest. Bookrix.com has played on the idea of communal reading and their forums allow thoughts and feelings on a novel to be displayed in a forum for world wide view. Birkerts truly believes that this innovation will be the downfall of the old classic way of reading, but is that really such a bad thing? Reading will now be for all and not just for a collect few. The internet provides a faster and easier way to learn, and this should be seen as a triumph not a defeat.
Reflection
In my final essay I attempted to work on the specific points that I did not develop as fully as I could and a subject that I hadn’t touched on completely in my original paper. I revised the paper by adding multiple new paragraphs to tie the information together more coherently so that each subject was explained thoroughly. The main points I developed more were the social aspects of Bookrix.com and how that is the sole difference between written texts and online texts, and also that reading should not be based on the vessel on which it is read. The two points allowed me to completely round out my argument against Birkerts so that the paper seemed more cohesive and developed.
This semester I have worked on my attention to detail and ensuring that I develop my thesis and other main points clearly. With each paper I have gotten better at those key things which has allowed me to see any mistakes I make in the future more clearly, thus allowing me to fix them before submission. I would like to continue to hone my skills in these areas in order to develop a stronger and stronger paper each time. I have definitely made my thesis much stronger in my final papers, and therefore my papers should only get better from here. In the coming semester at Washington College I would like to experience a broad range of English courses to broaden my horizons even further. I believe that by studying each style of literature I will be able to better construct my point and style in a paper.
