Graham, Birkerts

I attended the Sven Birkerts lecture and I have to admit that I was a little bit confused. At first, I was really bored, because he was just reading to the audience. This was not very engaging, and I found it hard to keep track of what he was saying. However, once people began asking questions and he was answering them, I think that I started to understand the message that he was attempting to portray. The main point of his lecture was that reading is being taken over by technology, and it almost seems as if books are becoming a thing of the past. He emphasized the point that he did not think that electronic books can have the same effect on an individual as actually reading the book, because while reading a book, you allow yourself to go into a different place mentally.
He also discussed the photos around the room, which consisted of various individuals reading, and he explained that it is interesting to watch people read because you have no idea where they are in the book. Are they imagining that they are in space, or in the country…etc. You can never tell by looking at a person, and how deep you get into the book can be effected by the place where you are reading. He mentioned that in a crowded place you are not able to get absorbed in the book as easily, because you are constantly pausing and checking out the surroundings and what the people around you are doing (much like Foucault discusses about how we can not help but watch people, and we are always being watched). I also could not help but relate the photos that were taken to the Foucault reading, because those people had no idea that they were being watched. They were sitting and reading, and they were clueless to the fact that they were being photographed. In a way, the pictures were kind of creepy.
Anyways, he believes that soon college libraries will be deprived of books, because everything will be online (although he hopes that this does not happen). Unfortunately, the internet is a lot faster and the information is a lot more accessible online, so coming from a generation that is dependent on technology for everyday life, I do not think that this is something that can be avoided. He continually discusses the importance of reading books, because it is so much more beneficial than having something read to you. This confused me, because based on his stance on the subject, I was surprised that his lecture consisted of reading to the audience.
The audience had mixed views on the topic, and a lady in the back of the room seemed to really disagree with what he was saying, which actually got a little bit awkward. However, I think that the end of the lecture was very interesting and I was glad that I attended.