A few links worthy of further investigation that I hope to investigate...further...in the coming days:
- The now heavily-linked-to David Mitchell NYT piece: David Mitchell, The Experimentalist Some haven't picked it back up since they read the first few pages, others swear it is genius. Consider this my official promise not to read any press or any reviews about this book until I've had a chance to tackle it on my own terms.
- Garth Risk Hallberg at The Millions tackles a subject that has been much on my mind lately: to pick Dhalgren up or no. In the age of quick news snippets and online marketing folks touting short, snappy posts (I'm one of them and guilty of such recommendations to my own clients), I feel there's a time coming soon when it will be all the rage to savor long blog posts again. To do the long essay. To embrace the crazy long novel. I picked up a lovely used copy of Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren from a favorite but now-closed used bookstore years ago and every few months it calls to me from the shelf. I've not yet succumbed to the call, but Hallberg's post has me tempted anew.
- Chad W. Post at the excellent Three Percent has written a post that pulls together all the disparate articles & studies & research about how the aforementioned short, snappy posts with their oh-so-convenient hyperlinks are not only changing how we read, but what we retain and...most compelling to me...what we think about what we've read. There is so much here and is the beginning of what looks to be an ongoing series of posts. I also hope it is the beginning of an ongoing dialogue about this. My secret (now not so much) hope? This leads us back, in some way, to longer forms. What We Talk about When we Talk About the Future of Reading is a must-read.
Update: Matthew Cheney has a fantastic response to Hallberg's Dhalgren post. I'm more tempted now than ever.
