One can barely go on the internet or pick up a print journal these days without reading a new gloom-and-doom prognosis about books and writers, and by implication the process of reading and writing.

Over the weekend I read another variant on the “writing and reading as we know it is dead” theme, from Guardian columnist, Will Self. Titled “The Fate Of Our Literary Culture Is Sealed“, the article (although he terms it a “provocation”) culminated in this quote:

‘I began this provocation by describing what I think of deep reading – the kind of reading that serious books demand, and I promised that I would also discuss writing, the kind of writing that’s intended to be read deeply. But really, there’s no point in this, because such writing depends for its existence on deep readers, and in the near future such deep readers will be in very short supply.’

Now he may well be right, but in reflecting on his thesis (or “provocation” 😉 ) I juxtapose his concluding thoughts with another excerpt from the Murakami interview:

‘How long does Murakami think the game of literature can last? “I think serious readers of books are 5% of the population,” he says. “If there are good TV shows or a World Cup or anything, that 5% will keep on reading books very seriously, enthusiastically. And if a society banned books, they would go into the forest and remember all the books. So I trust in their existence. I have confidence.” ‘

I would not like to argue that one or the other is right: I think we are living a huge technological change and the jury is very much out as to what we see around us once we—and it—reach the high tide line.

But as one reader and author on the sidelines, endeavouring to decipher the entrails and determine the portents inherent in such provocations, speculations, and reflections, I believe there are intriguing trends within the change we’re currently living that don’t always marry up neatly.

For example, I am often told that modern readers have short attention spans and think in sound bytes. Yet in an Kissmetrics’ article that featured research by viral-marketing scientist Dan Zarrella of Hubspot, who analyzed 12,000 articles shared to Facebook, one key finding was that:

“Shareable posts are longer than 1k words.”

In fact, the optimum size suggested was between 1000-1500 words: not exactly soundbyte length.

With respect to reading fiction, in particular, I note one other trend of interest: that in Fantasy-SF at least, the trend appears to be toward larger and more indepth storytelling, as evidenced by series such as George RR Martin’s “A Game Of Thrones”, Robin Hobb’s “Assassin/Fool” and “Rain/Wild” novels, and Robert Jordan’s “A Wheel Of Time.”

It’s not restricted to SFF though: Booker winners Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel) and The Luminaries (Eleanor Catton) both fit the trend as well.

A blip in terms of Self’s premise? Perhaps, but it also makes for interesting observation amidst the currents of change swirling all around.