"THE GOOD ONE" HOLLA! 11/15/09 (Sven Birckett)

Sven Birckett had some very interesting things to say through his analyses of Kertesz’s photographs of reading. I thought it was interesting how he saw photography as being committed to outer resources and reading being more of something committed to inner meaning. I agree with this completely because when reading individuals can be taken to all different places depending on how they are internally interpreting meaning. For example, I can read a novel talking about life and how to live and so can my roommate. We can have different internally meanings though depending where we are in life and how we’ve been brought up to look at life. On the other hand, images are seen from the outside world, needing the eye to give meaning. Images give more of a shared meaning than that of reading. I also like how Sven went into the differences of the reader versus the observer. For example, a reader does not have to be aware of his or her setting but an observer must be aware of their surroundings and what they’re observing, i.e. an image. Sven also went into detail about the progression of reading materials going from hand written books, to printed books, to now digital books like the Kindle. This new technology has brought into opposition the printed pages versus lit screens. He interestingly compared this as old world versus post-postmodernity. I agreed with his question of “does the Kindle extend the invitation that the open book extends?” Personally I do not believe so because with a book you can snuggle up in bed, bend it and maneuver it for comfort etc. My question to Sven would be, as we have progressed technologically from oral to written to print to now digital, is it possible that we can progress any further? To me a Kindle is just another form of book, it is nothing different from a written book, it still means and gives the same meaning. Sven on reading was very interesting, but I feel there is more to be looked at when it comes to this subject.