Micromedia, Design, and Teaching the Narrative Business
Burroughs and Gysin wrote The Third Mind. Sometimes, I wish I’d never read the thing. For one, that book—or
perhaps the formulaic depression I endured after trekking through Pynchon’s generic Inherent Vice—is likely responsible for my recent inability to read a print novel. Not because novels are long, or that I lack the requisite attention span, but because I want to see language do something other than construct a story, a character, a point of view . . .
Elsewhere, I’ve heard it. The kids. With their low attention spans, they don’t read books anymore. Or, if they do, they consume vampirish texts destined for filmic adaptation. So the last thing to advocate is a move away from the literary novel. Because, if you do, then you are simply endorsing the abbreviating thumbs of a multitasking generation. Cursory thinking and micromedia (e.g., Twitter and Facebook) take over.
