Of course I am going to enjoy a book called The New Dark Ages which tells us the world is reading books less and it is all going to hell. Granted, author James Marriott doesn’t put as fine a point on it as I have, but I want to feel special. Don’t we all?
Marriott looks at the world of less book reading and laments. Mainly, the crux of his argument is that a reading world is a more democratic and well-informed one. I don’t want to overstate the argument because Marriott himself will point out that jumping literacy rates in a printing press world didn’t mean great things across the board, but it did mean everyone got a bit more aware of the world around them.
These days (picture me shaking my fist at a cloud), people are much more likely to not read at all or only in the tiny snippets at the bottom of a TikTok video. Marriott brings out some facts and figures which show that this type of reading is not great for our self-awareness and leads us humans to a shallower understanding of complex topics. Marriott also adds some history of literacy, mainly by recapping the lives of some famous people who talked about how important (and fun!) reading is.
As for how convincing Marriott’s argument is, it is hard for me to say. Obviously, I am already well converted to the “read a book constantly” side of the aisle. This feels more like multiple articles which were pulled together and then some connective passages were added. All of it is well written with some funny asides. If you looked at the title and were drawn to this, you will enjoy it. Whether this would hold up under intense scrutiny, I am not sure. Then again, how would I know? Maybe I can read a book about it.
(This book was provided as a review copy by Doubleday Books.)
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