This post comes after a mind-engaging, rigorous visit to a local bookstore that I previously made. I am always intrigued when I visit any bookstore, particularly because I know that there is an idea hiding around every corner, or shelf! Bookstores excite me, they challenge me, sometimes intimidate, but never bore. They are my playground, albeit the equipment (books) can sometimes lead to personal injury. It all depends on how adapted I am to processing the ideologies that are presented in each book.
So, why are bookstores so enthralling to some, boring to others, and supposedly 'user-friendly' to many. Is it the coffee shop, or the music. Is it the ambiance of the store. Maybe its a place to see what the current affairs are, or the latest comic book craze. Maybe, its just a nice place to be.
Just think, hundreds of people will visit every day: perusing, exploring, engaging, or posing. Do the people you see really understand? Do I understand? Do you? Are they there to engage the ideas of history, or seek guidance on current affairs. Or, do they peruse, overloading there brain with words they don't understand and ideas they can't assimilate through a pre-suppositional framework that looks dangerously like the great wave of pop-culture, and less like a decent college education. Do they understand the concepts around them. Do they see the delicate rhetoric, calculated logic, or philosophical tones of every piece of literature. Is the ideological buffet before them relevant to their education and knowledge, or only to their stereotype and self-esteem.
And, you may ask, why does it matter? Who cares, right? Well, hopefully someone! Our country has too many people who receive a six-figure education, and still graduate college with a 6th grade reading level. I don't know, but maybe if they spent more time on education and less time on entertainment, they could understand the basic vocabulary of a popular fiction novel, let alone a famous piece of literature. Indeed, bookstores, next to libraries, are the great halls of ideas. I guess the question is, which one do you visit more, and why? I'm sure that answer will be relative to your situation, or education!
Think on That!
P.S. Please feel free to comment. This post was meant convey introspection. All replies on this post are eagerly anticipated. Also, I do not mean to infer that people who visit bookstores are less intelligent than those who do not.
BTW: Are you a library-goer or a bookstore show-er?
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4 comments:
Personally, I love bookstores as well, but budgeting issues have led me back to the library recently.
As far as the ideologies in many books (as well as tv shows, movies and music) I feel that the average Christian, much less the average person, rarely think about what is going on in them. Kent and I often discuss at length how empowering women has become the focus of so many shows, especially ones meant for children. Case in point would be Enchanted, which I was thoroughly disappointed by because of the end (I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet). Another example would be a book that my younger sister is reading for school which seeks to have young people rethink whether or not violence was the best way for the U.S. to declare our independence!
I apologize if this is not totally on topic, but I get so frustrated with these producers and publishers trying to force traditional roles and ideas out the window.
To be honest I am a bookstore lover. I hate libraries because when I read a book I like to digest a book with a highlighter, which I obviously cannot do with a borrowed book. In many cases I also find that libraries have books that are either not old enough, not new enough, and not available. It always seems like every book I want, if they even have it in their inventory, is always checked out.
In any event, I think a good subject to talk about in relation to the idea of bookstores is the things that are replacing books in our "Christian bookstores." It is indeed sad when I walk into Lifeway and cannot get a commentary or book I want because of all the junk that is filling their inventory. You can buy every single Willow Tree Figure, Precious Moments statue, rug mat, picture, picture frame, and decoration in the world, but you can't get a decent book in a Lifeway bookstore! What has happened to our culture that has made reading so despondent to the point that the vast majority of sales for Lifeway revolves around decorations, music, and accessories?
What is far worse, and then I will be silent, is what is now passing for books. It used to be that scholars would carefully study and spend years in research and contemplation in order to finish a single book. Today most Christian writers have a book out every month or two, and most of these books are simply commentary on what other brilliant thinkers in the past spent long years to write. Very little of what is being written today has any real depth. Most of what passes for books today is simply shallow words that pander to the multitudes of shallow Christians in the church.
To be honest I am a bookstore lover. I hate libraries because when I read a book I like to digest a book with a highlighter, which I obviously cannot do with a borrowed book. In many cases I also find that libraries have books that are either not old enough, not new enough, and not available. It always seems like every book I want, if they even have it in their inventory, is always checked out.
In any event, I think a good subject to talk about in relation to the idea of bookstores is the things that are replacing books in our "Christian bookstores." It is indeed sad when I walk into Lifeway and cannot get a commentary or book I want because of all the junk that is filling their inventory. You can buy every single Willow Tree Figure, Precious Moments statue, rug mat, picture, picture frame, and decoration in the world, but you can't get a decent book in a Lifeway bookstore! What has happened to our culture that has made reading so despondent to the point that the vast majority of sales for Lifeway revolves around decorations, music, and accessories?
What is far worse, and then I will be silent, is what is now passing for books. It used to be that scholars would carefully study and spend years in research and contemplation in order to finish a single book. Today most Christian writers have a book out every month or two, and most of these books are simply commentary on what other brilliant thinkers in the past spent long years to write. Very little of what is being written today has any real depth. Most of what passes for books today is simply shallow words that pander to the multitudes of shallow Christians in the church.
Was that an either/or question? I LOVE the library - how else can you find EVERYTHING (or almost) that you need whenever you research anything? BUT I'm also a great bookstore lover. A great USED bookstore lover that is. I can't stand regular bookstores because all of the books are new and very pricey. Used bookstores are amazing though because you can find some amazing old books (my favorite) and very reasonably priced books on almost anything. The only problem with them is you aren't guaranteed that the book you want is in stock.
Basically, as long as I have my books I'm happy, and I don't much care how I get them, as long as its legal. :-)
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