Death of Another Writer

Tom Clancy, author of Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger and the other Jack Ryan books, died yesterday at age 66.

Sad to hear.  He was a good author.

That is very sad news, Ann. What a great loss!

Tom Clancy was not only a good writer…his work was original. His work will help build other young writers who read him. It’s a sad lose.

I'm not sure with the emphasis on technology that what we consider "great writers" are still going to be found in the future.  People are reading fewer classics and books that emphasize words and language and instead are reading more books that are quick reads with common language.  When's the last time you had to use a dictionary to find definitions for words in a book?

I seldom do that DK.  Even when I'm reading a novel in German, I no longer use the dictionary.  Based on how the word is used in the sentence, one can determine the meaning and then file that new word away, especially when it is used more than once.

dkchristi wrote:

I'm not sure with the emphasis on technology that what we consider "great writers" are still going to be found in the future.  People are reading fewer classics and books that emphasize words and language and instead are reading more books that are quick reads with common language.  When's the last time you had to use a dictionary to find definitions for words in a book?

Writers of books with more than one page are fast becoming dinosaurs. It seems most people under thirty are of the new, quick gratification generation. They go from thing to thing seeking what makes them feel good. These young people are not stupid. Matter of fact, they are very smart. There is a flaw in how they deal with life. They have become very self centered. The past has no interest for them. Talking to others via voice is being replaced with text messaging.

Happiness is measured by; Money, looks, and the quick fix. If you think the last generation was bad, this one is a killer.

Reading classics and books well-written has always been a form of education.  The well-read person is often more informed than a person with education credentials.  Formal education forces reading...

Even the education system's current emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math leaves out the love of reading as an integral component to the rest of education.  Literature scholars, once revered for their philosophical debates, are now considered useless in careers, good only for teaching, a dime a dozen.

Even journalists are relegated to the dumping ground, a few taking to the blogs and others becoming celebrities for their biased commentary, not their journalism, not their respect for the truth in the written word.  Entertainment, ratings and funding are the drivers for news.

Hope does lie in the thousands of books and the quick reference for research that is found in a tablet of any label. 

Each generation sees the next as a bit "worse" while they see the last as a bit stodgy and unwilling to change.  Thus the future is not necessarily worse, just different.  Values will be different, but those growing up with them will be comfortable and unhindered by our concerns.

Reading Old English is seldom encouraged in school anymore.  Poetry is a hard sell.  Even the Bible has been translated into such "modern English" that's it's beauty as a work of historical literature is lost. 

Perhaps our generation is the last to see literature as so integral to an understanding of life.  What's critical to the new generation is its use of apps to make every aspect of life easier.  Just like board games are relecs of days before television along with knitting and crochet.

The enjoyment of aps and games replaces the joy of reading?  

Books like those of Tom Clancy took us to adventures and in the lives of characters we would likely never encounter - a chance for imagination to take us from a hum drum existence into excitement for a few pages.

Today's youth have the benefits of travel, communication, media and unlimited extremes so that imagination is replaced by real life.  Perhaps the written adventure will be replaced by the real or holographic one.

And like the ancient library in Star Trek, real books will be in glass as a treasured memory, like the museum artifacts from ancient Egyptian tombs.

Agreed, DK.  I remember a conversation with a Canadian who expressed his feelings in this manner.
He said:  "I can see pictures and videos of Hawaii where try to make one feel that they are there.  What is missing is the smell of the sea and the feel of the breeze.  Only being there will complete the picture" 

I agree with that.  We have so much available with TV and Videos, but they will never replace actual presence.  I often dream of places I've been.  Sometimes I can smell the smells and hear the sounds of vendors promoting their wares.  A picture cannot replace that.