The class and early books

     So far my class, History of Print Culture, or as my professor likes to call it, The Business of Books had been incredibly interesting. Ever since I was a little kid books have been a passion of mine. I would stay up way later than my parents would allow and try to read my books in the dim light my cracked closet door allowed to cast across the room. I would collect books from my grandparents house, and make trips to the public library with my mom and fill an entire shoulder bag full of books to take home. One of the most exciting moments from my childhood was when I learned how to sign my name so that I could get a library card. So I guess you could say that I really love books. Everything about them. Not just reading them. So taking this class I have been very excited that so far, we have been talking about the history of books, and how they used to be made. From scribes to Gutenberg people painstakingly and lovingly put books together. Books were a form of art (still are in my opinion) when everything was handlettered and hand stitched. The drawings were all by hand, and books were so rare that only the rich could really afford them. People were much less educated and bound books were reserved for the churches. With the invention of the printing press, books became more widespread, although still rare. And with this came an interesting reaction. Religious authorities began speaking out harshly against books, claiming they should be reserved for holy use only and that they would change society for the worse. Even intellectuals, philosophers, spoke out against books claiming that they were inferior to the spoken word, and that they could never capture the emotion and expression expressed through telling a story by mouth. They said that a man would never have to remember anything for himself because he could just write it down to recall later. This was an especially interesting point in the class because the same sort of thing is happening in our society now, just not with books. With the invention of social media, these problems and questions are being raised again. I don't think anyone in modern society will argue that books were a bad invention that affected society in a poor way. Unless maybe you talk to a college student who has to read a textbook in a couple days time. Now we're faced with wondering in social media is detrimental to our society. There's is no question that it is changing society, and that we are in the middle of a cultural revolution, but is it harmful? It is definitely something interesting to think about.