I went through an array of opinions throughout the Hamlet's Tables reading. I began by thinking this could be interesting because I had never thought of erasable books as opposed to erasable writing utensils. As I continued to read I found the explanation of the making of the writing tables to be interesting and informative. I read on and eventually became bored because a discussion of every minuscule aspect of writing tables took place. In my state of distraction due to boredom I started to contemplate the permanency of words...
Before writing tables or erasable writing utensils, written words were much more permanent. You could not erase, you could not back space, and scribbling out was probably not an option either. Before written words became temporary, they must have carried a great deal of importance. It made me feel that my use of a computer for writing is trivial at best. Even after this blog is published my words are in no way permanent. I could delete the whole blog, and every idea, every thought, every typed word would be virtually non existent. Rather depressing... but back to the reading.
I originally thought writing tables were probably very well favored by accounts and other such occupations that require mass amounts of writing and calculating with little to no room for error. However there was no mention of accountants using writing tables but rather they were used by merchants to keep track of sales. They were exchanged as gifts by the aristocrats, as is the case with any nouveau and expensive invention. And of course the tables were associated with puritanism as is everything else during the 17'th century.
If nothing else this reading inspired some thought as to how completely trite modern written words have become due to their lack of permanence.
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It's really interesting the point you make about erasability, because I agree that it takes away from the value of writing, print, and meaning. Maybe you typed out something brilliant on your laptop, but easily and conveniently it can disappear. The accessibility of erasability may have allowed for the continues use of a medium, however it has also allowed for a very simple way to lose ideas and thoughts etc.
ReplyDeleteSheila, you are not alone in your opinion that this particular reading was really boring and hard to get through--I concur. Does this mean I think it is not valuable? No. It just means that for someone who is not a bibliographer or "Book History" researcher or scholar, reading about receipts and order forms proving a certain amount of some early form of notebook had been bought or ordered or shipped by some producer, to some purchaser, starts to smack of economics or something.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how hard I tried to figure out some kind of wisdom (or sarcasm) to write about this week's readings, I could not muster anything.
I just wanted to tell you that I find your last statmenet incredibly interesting. I'm not really sure what I could add to it at the moment, but it definitely gives me something to think about...
ReplyDeleteAnyone who has ever lost a piece of writing due to computer malfunction can sympathize with you. Although at the time, you can feel as though you'll never get back what you wrote, the need to compose something new to replace what was lost can bring about an even better product. And it all just goes to show that words are replaceable...
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do have to agree that words are replaceable, I do not believe that one set of words is necessarily as good as another. I myself, like many, have lost papers on my laptop and had to rewrite them. However, trying to recreate something when that original inspiration is not there results in a work that is lacking in some way, regardless of how subtle that lack may be. Although we now may be able to recreate pieces of work, I do not think we are able to equal that of what has been lost.
ReplyDeleteI understand waht tsalimnia is saying, but i must respectfuly disagree. See, it is true that for something like a paper or homework, a revised copy tends to be better. One is forced to think and re-think about what they have created and, therefore, many times they create a more thourough piece of work. But for things like poetry or other artistic forms of literary manipulations, i find that what runs toward the paper out of the tip of your fingers is the rawest and truest explanation of your personal sanity, or insanity, depending on how you look at it.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with V. on this one. Many a time have I been writing my heart out when, due to one of a hundred thousand little computer malfunctions, I've lost everything. It's a disheartening experience. Almost more so, however, for school-related work. When my old laptop was slowly sinking into its grave, I was on the brink of losing a 70-page research project as well as all relevant research, right before it was due (blessing be on the head of whomsoever invented the jump drive). I'm pretty sure that if I had lost all that work, insanity and not creative genius would've ensued.
ReplyDeleteBut what we're all really talking about here is Sheila's all too truthful ending statement: "If nothing else this reading inspired some thought as to how completely trite modern written words have become due to their lack of permanence." In general, I completely agree. As a society, we take writing/typing for granted. There's always that savior jump drive, the backup copy, &c. We can save and erase at our whim.
Realizing this, I feel fleeting. Where do our words amount in the overall scheme of things?
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ReplyDeleteWow! First let me say Thank You for bringing that realization to my attention, and secondly, let me say you're so right about the reading being boring. I am actually a little disappointed with myself for not thinking more deeply into the reading, especially when it effects me so. However, knowing how our words and thoughts have lost its magnitude and can easily be erased and just completely evaporate is a bit depressing...
ReplyDeleteI agree with the notion that this article gets a little tedious. I feel like in attempt to sound intelligent, some authors tend to get wordy, repeat themselves thus distracting the underlying meaning of the article. Another aspect to consider is the evolution of word processing software. It allows users to be “dumb”. The utilization of spelling and grammar check is quickly making the need for being good spellers irrelevant. I don’t know how I feel about this.
ReplyDelete