The Basement of History

Books are disappearing. Not because of the recent rise in eReaders and eBooks; that is not the issue here.

The crisis facing us today is not the digital replacement of the tangible bound book as has been with us since the toga-wearing days. An infinitely more serious problem is that the book as a form of entertainment is rapidly descending into the dark, mouldy basement of history.

 

For the purposes of this blog, 'book' shall refer specifically to any book that we read for pleasure, including anything from travel writing to poetry to fiction, whether digital or on paper. This kind of book, the book that is read for pleasure alone, is becoming a very rare bird in society.

As an example, this report found that "65% of college freshmen [in America] read for pleasure for less than an hour per week or not at all ... by the time they become college seniors, one in three students read nothing at all for pleasure in a given week."

Even those who can be seen carrying books around may not necessarily be reading them. According to a 2005 article in The Guardian, more than one in three people surveyed admitted to buying a book merely to look intelligent or cultured, often without bothering to read them.

Clearly, reading personal enjoyment is a dying art. Most people are simply not reading for themselves any more. They might read for school, or to improve their business strategies, or to get ideas for their new garden. But not for themselves. Not for fun.

Clearly, something is going wrong.