On the Subject of Books ­ Blog ­ Susan Steggall

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On the Subject of Books

 

On 18 November I attended the 2013 David Scott Mitchell Memorial Lecture, given by Dr Rick Gekoski – writer/editor, academic, broadcaster and author of the highly entertaining Lost, Stolen Or Shredded: Stories of Missing Works of Art and Literature (Allen & Unwin, 2013). Talking on ‘The Life and Death of the Book’ Gekoski took us through the history of written texts from stone tablets, to papyrus scrolls, illuminated manuscripts and the Gutenberg revolution – each a paradigm shift. But, have we seen, over the last ten years (or so), the greatest shift of all – the phenomenon of the e-book and the multi-media world it has opened up? I would argue that Australia has already established itself as a leader in this with The Beethoven Obsession, by Brenda Ward, the e-book version of which combines text, photographs and clips of Gerard Willems playing Beethoven on a piano built by Wayne Stuart.

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