It is perhaps odd to describe a book as both timely and urgent when it was first published more than 15 years ago … but that’s the thing that will probably strike you first about The Shallows. The scenarios and human behaviors it describes are chillingly accurate for right now. Deservedly selected as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize when it first came out, the book was an interesting read for me this week as I turned back to some of the pages because amidst many of the dated references to innovations of the time (video books known as “vooks” and limited discussion of AI or social media), the larger arguments and points he raises feel still important today:
“Every tool imposes limitations even as it opens possibilities. The more we use it, the more we mold ourselves to its form and function.”
Reading passages like this make The Shallows feel as though it was written with a cautionary tale for modern times. Much of the book is indeed exactly that. For offering a sobering historical perspective on the dangers of the past days of the Internet and reminding us all that some of the ethical technology questions we face today are the same ones we left unanswered from years ago.
About the Non-Obvious Book Selection of the Week:
Every week I will be featuring a new “non-obvious” book selection worth sharing. Titles featured here may be new or from the backlist, but the date of publication doesn’t really matter. My goal is to elevate great books that perhaps deserve a second look which you might have otherwise missed.
