The End of Books by Robert Coover: Are They Really Becoming Obsolete? By Brittney Beck

Summary

Coover’s article The End of Books discusses books as potentially becoming an obsolete technology and hypertext becomes a more accepted medium of fictional works. He defines today’s “real world” as “the world of video transmissions, cellular phones, fax machines,[and] computer networks (Coover 706).” According to him, in such a world the classic “line” of a novel will be too restricting. Hypertext offers far more opportunities to explore topic and concepts in works of fiction. However, there are still many challenges in the field of hypertext as it is still being developed and explored. There are the questions of how much linked information is too much and distracts from the purpose of the piece of writing as Coover put very well when he said “how do you move around in infinity without getting lost? (Coover 708)”; additional questions include: how does on criticize or analyze that is never read the same way twice, and how will the reader stay focused on the central idea of the piece of writing without getting lost.
Coover’s intended audience is producers and consumers of literature. In his article he confesses that he is not an expert on hyperspace, but as believes print is becoming obsolete it is important to become more aware of the possibilities of hypertext. He also chose to teach a class on it at Brown University in order to expand his understanding of it and share that understanding with writing students. As Coover began a class on Hypertext Fiction, the relevance of his class is at stake if hypertext does not become a prevalent form of writing and publishing works of fiction.

Inquiry

I only partially agree with Coover. I agree that books will eventually become obsolete, however, not in the near future and I do not believe novels will become obsolete. I also do not believe that hypertext will become the new medium of choice for pieces of fiction. In fact, in a more recent article Coover states that the age of hypertext has come to an end and “this heavily textual era of innovation in the form has given way to the world of the Web (Introduction 705).” I foresee that paper books will eventually become outdated as electronic books such as the Kindle become more prevalent and available to the public. I personally have one, and one similarity there is in the electronic book to hypertext is that words are linked to a dictionary and can be looked up on demand to further the reader’s understanding of the content. Electronic books will be more efficient than paper books because they can store numerous books in one small light weight device saving space and one’s back. It makes books less expensive as there is no paper and ink to pay for, and makes new books conveniently available from the comfort of one’s home. Works of fiction will always provide a form of entertainment however the form they come in will change as technology changes.

1) Do you believe books will eventually become obsolete and if so what will replace them?
2) What are some pros and cons of hypertext that Coover does not mention?
3) On page 706 Coover claims that “lines” are restricting and tyrannical. Are “lines” really restricting or are they freeing in that they are transparent and provide a window to a different story?