Sunday, September 15, 2013

Bad news – A public library has opened up in Texas which has no books –- only Ebooks and computers. In Fairfax, VA the library system has decided to go all digital and was destroying books until charitable organizations and ordinary citizens complained loudly. They have stopped the destruction until the community organizations get to go through the discarded books and choose which they would like to keep for homeless shelters, hospitals, etc. I doubt that Jacksonville will do it soon, but it is being done in response to ever more restricted city budgets like ours. Ebooks are cheaper. The libraries are also getting rid of their professional library staff and hiring only library aides and other less professional workers, even for the head librarian positions. One librarian at the Texas library said that they may not have all the titles that are being sought. I think there are fewer titles that are out as Ebooks, probably. Either that or the goals of public libraries will be less lofty in the future, with the library no longer being an indispensable tool of an educated populace. People like me will be at a loss for what to do with our time. I hate this. We'll go back to the days when people had to buy books to read them, if publishers will still be printing books. I'm reminded of the “bookleggers” in A Canticle For Leibowitz. I no longer have my copy of that, I don't think. I wonder if I could find it on the Internet?

News – There is a Dengue fever outbreak in Florida at Jensen Beach. Martin County officials are going door to door to take blood, in an attempt to find out how widespread it is. Dengue fever is something I connect with other countries, but of course, south Florida is tropical. Looking on Wikipedia. It occurs in Africa, Asia and North America, and was first identified and named in 1779. The hemorrhagic fever which can develop with it is often fatal. It is characterized by high fever and intense bodily pain. Florida had 198 cases 2010, with others in Texas and Hawaii. This year there have been two cases in Florida so far.

More news – Dreaming In Cuban is on the list of recommended reading for high school students along with classics like A Farewell To Arms. A parent complained when her tenth grade student began reading the book that it was pornographic. She pointed out the page, on which was a very intense and graphic sex scene. The school immediately pulled the text from the curriculum. The author Christina Garcia defended her book, saying “students shouldn't be deprived of a broader cultural experience.” She went on to say that “many works, not just mine are misinterpreted or misguidedly banned because of the limitations and short-sightedness of a few.” The school curriculum director said the books on the list are recommended as examples of an appropriate reading level, not necessarily for purchasing. The book had been praised by a Pulitzer Prize winning author, so the Core Curriculum committee assumed it was good for the age group. The school superintendent said that they had “learned a lesson,” and that they would put steps in action to prevent its occurring again. I hope one of the steps will be for someone on the school staff to read the books, if they are not true classics like A Farewell To Arms. One reason I tend not to read modern novels that are not mysteries is that you never know what kind of story you will get, they differ so much from each other. There are often extended sex scenes in modern works, or the story may just drift around from one minor event or interaction to another without having any cohesive idea or anything resembling a “plot.” That's why I stopped reading Loose Change last week. I lost patience with it. It didn't have any sex scenes in it, however, though the women did have lovers or boyfriends. They also didn't have important events in their lives, or anything to build interest. Part of the trouble with the book was that it consisted of a series of chapters named for the women one at a time, and concerning only that woman, within each chapter. The result was an uncoordinated series of segments which didn't develop toward anything, and didn't show the relationships between the women very much. I would have preferred for the author to take one of the women and develop a story for her, carrying it to a conclusion in which she develops as a person, while also showing the interactions between them for variety.

Back to my mystery. 7:01 I'm almost finished with Deaver's book. I thought he had lost the story line for the teenaged boy, but it turned out he did have a plan, and to my relief, the attacker in the story turned out to be someone else. I just have one chapter left. I'll finish that tomorrow.