In the book, "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore," Robin Sloan discusses the theme of whether or not technology's modern advancement in our culture is moving too fast. Overall, the answer appears to be no, today's technology is practical.
One way Sloan clarifies her opinion is by elucidating her main and secondary characters' opinions. Clay, the main character is a website designer by training, although he occupies the job of librarian at Mr. Penumbra's shop for the duration of the story. Clay and Mr. Penumbra work hard to incorporate technology into the chain of cult book shops, after Clay proves that technology is beneficial by organizing the bookstore on a digital model. While Clay bands together with a few other tech savvy friends, the theme of whether our culture is revolutionizing too fast becomes more and more apparent.
Then, the theme of technological evolution becomes even stronger when the characters are faced with the dictatorship of Cordova, who is obsessed as the rest of his society with continuing tradition and paper books in order to live forever. This contrasts with Kat's philosophy of using science and Google in order to live forever. Kat, Clay's girlfriend, is the opposite of Mr. Penumbra, and both are huge inspirations of Clay's. Kat is a modern, outgoing and frank, witty, young girl who aspires to gain power at her job, the Google corporation. This contrast of Penumbra and Kat increases the symbolism of the question; is there a way for the new and the old to operate together, or must one be eliminated?
The answer to this question proves to be that the two can successfully collaborate, assuming that Penumbra and Kat are accurate symbols of the old, tradition, and the new, technology. Clay works hard to find the perfect balance between the old and the new. He tries to save the wilting cult with technology. I am currently at this point in the book, and haven’t yet discovered whether either the books or Google end up prolonging human life. Personally, I think that if technology and tradition can work together well, it could lead to amazing discoveries. However, I also believe that if they don’t collaborate well, technology should be the first to be reduced- before books, at least.
Good response on a very thought provoking topic. The analysis of the characters really contributed to my understanding of the dilemma, can technology progress without getting rid of classic ways of life. I agree, that new technology can lead us to many great things. But I am worried that somethings will disappear that shouldn't.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Leah! As you know, I am currently reading this book, and I definitely agree with your ideas about modern technology versus "old-fashioned" books. One part of Clay's life, the bookstore, is all about books and tradition, while the other part, Kat, centers around technology because of her job at Google. The two aspects meet when Clay begins to decipher the mystery of the bookstore, and I was really curious why Penumbra seemed so emotional after finding out how Clay solved the puzzle. I am also really interested to see if "technology and tradition", as you said, can coexist, in the bookstore and in the world in general. Great job again! We should discuss more when I finish the book.
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