I learned something this morning. I have learned that because I use an e-reader, I prefer a certain type of book: not too complicated or contemplative, and driven by plot. That’s according to Fay Weldon, at least, who suggested to the Bath Literature festival this week that “writers should ‘abandon literary dignity’ and write page-turning versions of their thoughtful masterpieces for the ebook audience,” the Independent reports.
“Writers have to write now for a world where readers are busy, on the move and have little time for contemplation and reflection. The writer has to focus on writing better, cutting to the chase and doing more of the readers’ contemplative work for them,” Weldon added.
The novelist raised a similar point last year, asserting on her blog that the new kind of reader who has arisen alongside the growth of ebooks – the sort of reader who likes genre, and “non-literary novels, plot- and event-driven, fast-moving with no lingering on obscure complicated ideas” – needs a new kind of writer.
One, she says, somewhat astonishingly, “who is prepared to abandon literary dignity and write two versions of the same novel – one with the features of the literary novel (that is, written in contemplative mode with a strong authorial presence and inclined to discuss social and political issues or give advice as to the nature of humanity) and another shorter, easier version (a page-turner, plot-heavy and character-rich) which troubles no one with too much thought.”
Leaving aside the point that, actually, I would adore to see authors churning out two versions of the same book – the page-turning edition of Midnight’s Children; the contemplative, political version of the new James Patterson – Weldon’s reading of the situation just makes me think she doesn’t have an e-reader. And that she hasn’t looked at the current physical bestseller charts, stuffed with commercial fiction, either.
As Neil Gaiman argues, “books are simply one of the many storage mechanisms in which stories can be kept”. I’ve got an e-reader, and these days the majority of my reading is digital – books which, this week, range from Amy Poehler to Sarah Perry to Caroline Kepnes. It’s just the medium; it doesn’t make me a different sort of reader. Books are books. And us e-readers are proper readers, as Weldon surely knows.
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