The book and its survival – Opinion – 05/10/2022

The famous Book Fair is taking place these days in the city of Buenos Aires. Like every year, it is a mega-event that generates interest in the region and in which world-renowned writers usually participate.

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One of those guests, Mario Vargas Llosa, will cross to Montevideo where he will give a talk at the headquarters of the Center for Development Studies (CED).

These fairs have an impact on the promotion of books and reading. It happens with the Fair that takes place in Montevideo every October and in those held in other cities of the country where perhaps the best known is San José.

Added to this is the work done by departmental and even private libraries. Some also have their “friends commissions” that support and help increase their flow of books by getting donations. They even invite national authors to visit those cities to present their books, talk about their work or promote literature in general.

A well-known example of this practice is the Committee of Friends of the Eusebio Giménez de Mercedes Library. The library is municipal and the activity carried out by its commission aims to encourage reading and stimulate the publication of books.

There are also good private libraries that promote the book. There are those that make up the institutes that teach languages, there are some neighborhood ones and perhaps the most renowned is the “Biblioteca Nuestro Hijos”, managed by relatives of those who died in the accident in the Andes almost 50 years ago.

The book as an object, as a product, is in crisis but is fighting a worthy battle to survive.

There are many angles that, beyond the chosen title, allow the book to be reinstated as a well-sought, desired and treasured asset.

The crisis responds to several causes. One of them is that you read less. The audiovisual occupies an important space in everyday life, without a doubt, but the educational problems of many countries (ours included) result in generations that not only no longer have the habit of reading, but also show serious difficulties in what is called “reading comprehension”, that is, the ability to understand what the text they read is about.

Another explanation is the emergence of formats that replace paper, the so-called electronic books. This modality takes the place of the printed book but not its existence. Anyway, good readers still prefer paper.

The media, especially the written ones, as well as publishing companies, distributors and bookstores should redesign their “marketing” strategies to promote a good that has many aspects to promote, some not strictly linked to content: the book as an aesthetic object , a library that decorates a house and the pleasure of walking through a well-appointed bookstore (there are some in Montevideo) and rummaging through the shelves and finally buying something. A book is a good gift for a birthday or for the Christmas holidays.

In other words, there are many angles that, beyond the chosen title, allow the book to be reinstated as a sought-after, desired and treasured asset.

In many countries the written and printed media have good book sections because it is understood that there is a fundamental expression of cultural life there. The media in our region seem to have prioritized spectacle and entertainment as the central axis of culture and disdain the book.

It is ironic that the written media give so much importance to the protagonists of the show (entire pages dedicated to entertainment) but do not consider the authors of novels, short stories, poetry, dramaturgy, essays or journalistic texts worthy of note.

Authors of books like press journalists should defend a common interest: the printed word.

When a newspaper does recommend books, it uses arbitrary criteria and does not always advise texts that are of interest to a moderately educated and informed public, as is the case in other countries. Also forget that the idea of ​​commenting only on what is in the market is old. The possibility of buying “on-line” allows the reader to access books that may not be and may never reach Uruguayan bookstores.

The Buenos Aires Fair is one of the largest in the region. At a time when the pandemic is subsiding and visiting the neighboring country is cheap, many Uruguayans travel and visit it.

It is a good time then, so that here, in our country, those who work in this cultural industry, because that is what it is all about, find a way to revitalize it, make its production seductive, promote its authors and put the book in the center of our lives.

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