Hey folks. I got a few interesting responses about my Foer post last week, but none more interesting than the e-mail I got from a friend this morning. He prefers to go by MD, and he’s quite an amazing poet, but for now, I’ll respect his wishes and keep him anonymous.

Here’s his feedback on my post, followed by my brief response to him.

I hear ya Dan. Do we focus on the “analog” sound of guitar pedals/amps … OR embrace the digital age of modeling. Well, look at recording … almost everything is done on a computer now. Tape recording/reels … is so passe.

Part of this, for me, represents an EASE for the artist to do it. Undoubtably I would have never tried to record anything of my own without a small 4-track recorder … or then my laptop with a mic/outboard preamp, etc. SHOULD I have been recording is the real question? Hmmmm. An existential one only I can answer I suppose.

The same may go for writing. I am going to sound VERY old school here … but I like a good fucking book that is well written, beautiful words, and hits me deep. It does not require more than that. Obviously, I think it’s bad ass when the artist tries to open up the medium more … but I just figure that books are books. I do not take a lot of stock in “it all” => iPhones, computers, stock market, flat screen TVs, etc. Now I have about 90% of the items I just named … but deep down, it’s all just distracting stuff.

Like teaching. Everyone is always saying “We need more technology. We need more technology in the classroom to communicate with the kids … help them access this material/curriculum through mediums they already understand.” Frankly, I think that’s bullshit. Give me kids who will do SOME of their work … semi-motivated … and some amazing fucking books. And I’ll make the rest of the magic happen. I do not need youtube, or a projector, or iPads, or online blog journals. My primary reasons for being a teaching is: 1) helping them learn to think critically about the world & 2) see writing/words as one way of understanding the world. If they happen to understand the world in the same way, maybe they’ll become a writer! Maybe not.

My point being: we’re all just trying to better understand the world. A good book that is well written does that for me … much like all good art does.

I’m not sure pictures or tweets or text messages will somehow fill in the gap for me OR other readers. Some might say: But for these students/these readers … it does help them. A lot. So much so, that they actually read and liked it. I say “If you need things sugar coated all the time … life is going to be one long road.” Now one book … a few that do that. I’m always game for taking the conventions/styles and playing with them. But as a medium … I figure, we’re all just trying to dress our art up in post-modern trappings. But in the end … we’re all trying to do what Henry James, or Emily Dickinson, or Matthew/Mark/Luke/John were trying to do: show people how we understand the world … and maybe that will resonate with someone else. No need to layer it with so much other b.s.

I obviously mean NO OFFENSE in this email. I have not read ELIC or anything else by him. But people have a similar argument with O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” … saying the self-concious metafiction in it just gets in the way of the story. But that’s really a WAY of telling a story.

I dunno. I have no easy answers. Those are my thoughts.

–MD

__________________

And briefly, my response to his e-mail:

MD:

I like your interpretation and agree to a certain extent.

I like your point about technology in the classroom and COMPLETELY
agree, but I think I’m more lenient when it comes to literature. I
love me some classics, and books that are just books, but I also had
the advantage of growing up in a time when technology had not yet
entered the equation. Those books spoke to me because my teachers
spoke the same language as I did…so did the writers. I think that’s
less true for people who are younger than we are.

Should we pander to them? No, I don’t think so. But we do need to
bridge the gap between communication styles that have existed for
centuries and the communication styles they are currently entrenched
in. I think technology in the classroom is NOT the answer…but being
cognizant of that technological language and understanding the kids no
longer communicate or read like we did is very important.

Dan