Question Analysis

The concept of ‘the book‘ is certainly open to definition but should not include or be interpreted as the following: reading, newspaper broadsheets and magazines, print in general. One might simply define it in opposition to digital media (therein precluding ebooks viewable on PCs, the Kindle or other tablets) and related modes of entertainment that have in some way displaced reading (cinema, TV, video games… which all provide the joys of narrative and knowledge). The most successful scripts would indelibly turn to (pun!) the essence of the ‘book’ – its physical, tangible form (and not its content which is easily replicated). Paperback, hardcover or a stack of paper bound together using ‘recognised methods’ can all be considered under ‘the book’.

These definitions considered, ‘no place‘ then is an absolute term that you are urged to challenge to some extent. The physical medium of the book has a diminishing ‘place’, role, significance, relevance in society but it is far too premature to declare it ‘dead’ or without a ‘place’. As Ms De Souza points out, one should not just consider the value of books, but in fact: (i) analyse the conditions - current use of, attitudes/views toward ’the book’ at present and; (ii) analyse the necessity of ‘the book’ as competing mediums slowly replace / replicate its functions (eg. films deliver narratives that are visually more intense).

‘Modern society’ is placed (a-ha!) in the question to further call your attention to an assessment of the present-day but also encourages you to analyse how things have changed from past to present as well as the future of the book. If you are simply discussing the merits of ‘the book’ without paying due attention to ‘modern society’ and its / our reception of ‘the book’, you are not answering the question in its entirety. That said, there really should be no shortage of points, ideas and angles!

Issues

  1. Dwindling readership and ownership of books, evidenced in closing of bookstores (Borders and B&N being prime examples)
  2. Evolving lifestyle and preferences have meant that the book has little place in the hectic confines of city life or the shrinking attention span of the ‘overstimulated’ teenager
  3. Growing adoption of alternative / digital media in the form of the Kindle, Nook, iPad and other Android-powered tablets which displace the book in form (exponentially higher ‘storage’), function (more features, customisable typefaces and size) and even environmental friendliness (3000 ‘books’ without any need for pulp!)
  4. Accelerating digitisation / digitalisation of books, reflected in the Google Books and Project Gutenberg free libraries, the Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBooks online catalogue, JSTOR and other online databases and even our very own NLB eResources.
  5. Growing reliance on the Internet for information (hard copies of travel guides, recipe books et al losing popularity).
  6. Increasing displacement of books for entertainment by films, DVDs, television, YouTube, games on both consoles and portable devices.

Assumptions

  1. The book is ‘losing its place’. The book’s functions are now fulfilled by competing mediums that have emerged in ‘modern society’. ‘Modern society’ discourages or disallows ‘the book’.
  2. Some hold the view that the book is now redundant (to some extent) and that it will eventually be ‘dead’.
  3. Platforms come and go; the book will go the way of vinyl records, cassette tapes and film.

Essay Outline

Thesis:

It is irrefutably premature to proclaim the book a ‘dead’ medium. As with all media in a technological era where we rush to adopt the ‘easier’, ‘better’, ‘faster’ and ‘fancier’, the book may have lost ground to the Internet, the eBook, cinema, television and games in its various uses but retains its elan. Its distinctive, tangible quality cannot and is unlikely to be replaced in a modern age whose interest in books is far above melting point.

TS1:
Even though book sales have dipped and high-profile bookstores like Borders have closed their shutters for good, evidence suggests that the book is hardly on the wane. Young adults are still voraciously snapping up books by Rowling, Tolkien and Lewis. University students hold eight to ten library books at any one time and cannot do without academic journals. Executives are rarely seen without the latest management guide during lunch breaks.

TS2:
Admittedly, the book has been lost some of its lustre as the digital bandwagon grows in steam. With exciting platforms like the Kindle and iPad outmoding the book in both form and function, some believe that the book is no longer necessary; the book, they argue, cannot offer the low environmental footprint that the digital delivery and near-unlimited storage eReaders and tablets afford.

TS3:
Luddites may even claim that the book has lost all relevance in a social milieu where hectic lifestyles and shortened attention spans demand easy, quick and shallow entertainment in the form of iPhone games, YouTube clips or the latest explosion-heavy Michael Bay film. The book simply cannot compete when society has come to prefer aural-visual stimulation in excess over the deep cognitive, sustained activity books tend to demand (note to student: of course, books make for light, shallow reading too, but I am borrowing Nicholas Carr’s bias towards literary / academic reading).

TS4:
While this slant towards visual narratives and entertainment is hard to deny, the above views fail to appreciate that physical form of the book – with its spine, pages, covers et al – will always be coveted by many. A world without the ‘romance’ of turning pages and walking through aisles of Austen, Descartes, Homer and Shakespeare is indeed difficult, at least for this writer, to contemplate.

TS5:
Moreover, the book offers practical convenience and accessibility in its tangible form that has yet to be replicated by alternative technologies like the World Wide Web and its databases. One might even champion the book as the most democratic medium today, easily afforded by the poorest of communities and accessible in the most oppressed regimes (primer: the Internet is comparatively easier to censor!). There is perhaps a case for paper and ink printing as the best piece of information and communication technology to date.

TS6:
Observers may point out that the abstraction of ‘the book’ itself will retain its place in society, even if the physical medium becomes nothing more than a vintage item to be collected. The notion that the book ‘has no place in modern society’ surely does not herald the dystopia in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 411, for we will continue to download and peruse ‘books’ and in Apple’s ingenious iBooks, literally ‘flip pages’. The romance of ‘the book’, it seems, still thrives.

Conclusion:
As more libraries like the Seattle Central Library and the Esplanade Library open and become focal points in busy city centres, it is evident that the book, even in a digital age, has not lost its role in modern society. The development of the newfangled ePaper and continued technological advancement may eventually spell the death of the book but the book indubitably retains its relevance in society today. It is and will continue to be a symbol of childhood curiosity, enlightenment and intellect, standing tall in university coat-of-arms and school crests alike.

Sample paragraphs

Hanya Seah

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Beverley Ang

Books have their therapeutic ability – the ability to open up our imagination and dive into a world of our own. In the hustle and bustle of city life, we shuttle between work and home for most days of the week, occupying our minds with what we need to do instead of what we want to do and feel like doing. The stress levels felt in the city leave people gasping for air. A book in our very hands, on the other hand, provides a temporary respite for the city dwellers and it can be a form of escapism. The pages of the book free our imagination from the stiffness of daily, mundane work while the mind is filled with scenes that appear from nowhere, adding to the intensity of the adventure. People naturally feel more relaxed when they do not have to worry about the things that needed to be handled. Books allow the mind and soul to drift away from the present and that is where we subconsciously step into the world of the book. J.K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, does this fantastically well. That is the reason why millions of readers are drawn to her books, because the world she creates using the power of words leaves people space to imagine and wonder, dividing the realm of fantasy from reality. Therefore, books are still highly appreciated in today’s society, as it may be one of the few havens left that enable us to feel completely at ease in the world of pragmatism and man-eating society.

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