What's wrong with burying my nose into books in public? (In fact I don't do that very often though; Only when I wait for my flight at the airport. I read most of the time in my room, in my futon;)
I was a bit surprised to find that reading in a corner has some stigma around it, some negative image. Ha! Reading a book is a way to retreat into yourself, to play in your mind, and to talk to the author or to yourself. I really appreciate it.
So I felt uncomfortable about
the article I read this morning , which describes the way e-reading with devices like i-Pad helps eliminate the negative image and make "lone" bookworms "less alone". The few example mentioned say people talk to and give questions to the person "reading" on i-Pad. Hmm. That isn't bad, people get connected more easily. But I wonder if such interaction deprives the pleasure of reading?
Well, I am an old type on an issue like this, the latest technology. I don't say I hate it, I'd say I wanna touch i-Pad or something like that;) But I am worried something subtle but important is vanishing along with increasing high-tech tools.
人ごみの中だろうと自分の部屋だろうと、本を読むという行為は自分の中にある意味引きこもること、自分の中で遊び、筆者や登場人物や自分と会話をすること、とにかく、その本の中の世界に入り込むことだろうと思う。それのどこが悪いか。そこに「恥/汚点」と言った感覚が伴うなんて、びっくり、というか、はぁ?と思わされたNYタイムズの記事でした(ふーん。社交的でないことはあっちではやっぱりネガティブに見られるのか)。今やi-Pad や Kindle なんかの最新デバイスのおかげで、本の虫ももはや孤独ではない、「i-Pad で読書してたら、人々が話しかけてくれるんだ」、しょーもな。
社交は社交、孤独は孤独、どっちも意義深いと思うんだけどな。独りでいること(を人に見られること)を極端に恐れる社会。日本の大学じゃ便所弁当?なんて現象も見られるなんて嘆いてたけど、案外アメリカでも大差ないのかしらん。
I've got a lot of pleasure in my room:) ; w/Polaroid SX-70 + 600film; june, '08
p.s. But I found this usage of i-Pad nice and beneficial:)