Paul Socken (ed): The Edge of the Precipice-Why Read Literature in the Digital Age? McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal and Kingston, Canada, 2013, 232 pp, $24.95 (paperback), e-book for $9.99, ISBN: 9780773542501

摘要

The Edge of the Precipice is a collection of essays by passionate professors, writers, critics, editors, and librarians about books and reading in this "digital age." It doesn't introduce new ideas, but it does cover them compellingly. A bit short on conclusions and somewhat disjointed at times, this book would have benefited from a closing essay by its editor, Paul Socken, distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of French Studies at the University of Waterloo in Canada. In his introductory essay, Professor Socken writes that shortly before he retired, he learned that "hardly any" (3) of his students read novels, poetry, or short stories in their free time. This realization led him to the question posed in his collection's title: why read literature in the digital age?