Mrs. Gaskell and the Internet

And just what exactly could this Mrs. Gaskell, who wrote in the mid-1800s, have to do with the Internet? Thank you for asking, Dear Reader. The answer, in a word, is "communication."

I'd never heard of Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell until my husband (also known as my favorite computer peripheral) downloaded Gaskell's final masterpiece, Wives and Daughters, onto my Sony Reader from Project Gutenberg. (Warning: This masterpiece was actually unfinished, although the intended ending of the story readily presents itself to the imagination.) Mrs. Gaskell's Wives and Daughters tells of the intertwined lives of a number of families in a British country village. Love, friendship, social position, and social responsibility are all dissected (think of a combination of Jane Austin, Charlotte Bronte, and Charles Dickens). But most interesting is her exploration of both communication and the comic/tragic miscommunication of an era in which the very most difficult issues were not discussed directly. Communication and miscommunication--does the Internet come to mind?

Mrs. Gaskell observed her characters from inside and out. There are no villains in Wives and Daughters. Just as you begin to think of someone as a villain, she zeroes in on the possible villain's point of view, and suddenly that reprehensible point of view becomes reasonable, given the limitations of understanding and sensibilities of the particular character. The Internet moves in tune with Mrs. Gaskell. On the Internet, you can find the varying opinions of more people than you'd ever want to meet. Certain posters can make some of their otherwise goofy, malicious, or even villainous ideas seem, if not reasonable, at least understandable from their peculiar points of view. On the Internet, we see straight into the thoughts of those who would convince us of their ideas, just as Mrs. Gaskell saw straight into the thoughts of her fictional characters.

The power of false rumor is also grist for Mrs. Gaskell's mill. Small town gossip can be the ruin of anyone, especially a young woman, in her village. Even if it's only gossip, not actual truth, it harms. The Internet, in turn, often publishes whatever a poster wishes to say without an editorial guard at the gate to question truthfulness. And just as often, these unquestioned opinions are repeated as expertise by others on the Internet. Small towns no longer own the gossip mills. The Internet does.

And then, there's Mrs. Gaskell's consideration of the irrational belief in words spoken by those we consider above us in rank. In Mrs. Gaskell's village, the lords, ladies, and squires are expert by virtue of their positions. On the Internet, celebrities of all kinds expound on subjects of which they know little, but hold passionate opinions. And the higher they are in the ranks of celebrity, the more weight their words carry. Just pretend I'm a really, really famous author. Does my opinion seem more plausible to you now?

Okay, then I'll tell you what I think. I think I've found Mrs. Gaskell's village more than a century later, a village filled with communication and miscommunication. I think it's called the Internet.

Jaki

Luddite Loves E-books!

I confess to being the resident Luddite on this blog. I even looked up the word "Luddite" in my (paper or "dead tree") dictionary and found it defined as relating to one Ned Ludd, a workman who destroyed machinery, more broadly applied to those who oppose technological change. And yet, I must also confess, I can't wait to return to reading Vanity Fair on my Sony Reader.

Yep, I said "my Sony Reader." Ah, the kinder, gentler era of Vanity Fair. Who can resist? I can't, especially when I can flip the pages of my electronic reader with one fingertip.

It all started when an online publishing company called E-Reads offered to print twelve of my out-of-print Kate Jasper murder mysteries as e-books. "E" as in electronic. I could smell electrons sparking dangerously. But I could smell virtual paper too. Books that hadn't been on the shelves for too long would become available again. And they wouldn't even need a shelf. I found out E-Reads offered titles in almost all fiction genres and these were available from a host of online retailers.

Even for a woman who doesn't own a cell phone or a television, the idea was irresistible. And, of course, we had to have a Sony Reader to test the process. Was it possible to read electronically? Wuthering Heights went by so fast I forgot to ask the question. And Frankenstein and Wives and Daughters. I'm addicted. My fingers won't stop flying.

From my writing keyboard to the buttons on my Sony Reader. I'm a goner. Is it true love or a trifling affection? Only time...and words...will tell.

E-Yours,

Jaki