The Edge of the Precipice: Why Read Literature in the Digital Age?

Paul Socken

Published by McGill-Queen's University Press 2013

The Edge of the Precipice

Why Read Literature in the Digital Age?

Paul Socken

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780773589872

Overview
Contents

About this book

Kafka wrote that a book should be an axe to break the frozen sea within us: does that idea resonate with readers today?

Author / Editor information

Socken Paul :

Paul Socken is distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of French Studies at the University of Waterloo.Paul Socken is distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of French Studies at the University of Waterloo.

Reviews

“…The Edge of the Precipice, a collection of essays that mingles internet-induced anxiety with personal delight in books and bursts of too rare optimism about literature’s resilience in the face of the digital onslaught. Edited by Paul Socken, distinguished professor emeritus of French studies at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, the book has honourable intentions and a tendency to drift too far towards a rose-tinted view of the past….The Edge of the Precipice does a fine job of demonstrating how deeply books can affect readers.” Times Literary Supplement

“Taken together in all their contradictions, these essays do an admirable job of laying out the situation of literary reading in the digital age – of separating what is genuinely changing from what is not. Despite the thrust of its title, the answers are surprisingly optimistic.” The Globe & Mail

“…The Edge of the Precipice, a collection of essays that mingles internet-induced anxiety with personal delight in books and bursts of too rare optimism about literature’s resilience in the face of the digital onslaught. Edited by Paul Socken, distinguish

“Taken together in all their contradictions, these essays do an admirable job of laying out the situation of literary reading in the digital age – of separating what is genuinely changing from what is not. Despite the thrust of its title, the answers are

"The Edge of the Precipice is an impressive contribution to an important ongoing conversation, offering an inspiring and informative collection of well-expressed, non-technical perspectives on the importance of reading even as we stare into the bookless abyss." Quill & Quire

Topics

Front Matter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
A Return to the Educated Imagination Paul Socken Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Technology, Science, and the Book
Why I Read War and Peace on a Kindle (and Bought the Book When I Was Done) Michael Austin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
Reading in a Digital Age Notes on Why the Novel and the Internet Are Opposites, and Why the Latter Both Undermines the Former and Makes It More Necessary Sven Birkerts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
Solitary Reading in an Age of Compulsory Sharing Drew Nelle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
Literature and the World (Part One)
Literature as Virtual Reality Stephen Brockmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
How Molière and Co. Helped Me Get My Students Hooked on Literature Leonard Rosmarin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
Physical and Philosophical Approaches
A World without Books? Vincent Giroud Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Language Speaks Us: Sophie’s Tree and the Paradox of Self Mark Kingwell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
Poetic Readings
The End of Reading Alberto Manguel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
Cold Heaven, Cold Comfort: Should We Read or Teach Literature Now? J. Hillis Miller Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
Fragments from an Entirely Subjective Story of Reading Lori Saint-Martin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
A Very Good Chance of Getting Somewhere Else Katia Grubisic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Literature and the World (Part Two)
Thinking Deeply in Reading and Writing Keith Oatley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Don’t Panic: Reading Literature in the Digital Age Ekaterina Rogatchevskaia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	192
Why Read against the Grain? Confessions of an Addict Gerhard van der Linde Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
About the Authors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229

Language: English
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Audience: College/higher education;Professional and scholarly;General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 232

eBook

Published: September 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780773589872