Luddites Anonymous

Just finished reading A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut, which he wrote when he was 82 freaking years old. Good lord.

Bought the book over the summer - it was on the "Great Beach Reads" table at B&N - and remember feeling so proud of myself for branching out beyond my typical "serious literature" choices. It's a teeny little thing, this book. Nice comfortable font. I glimpsed some sketchy-type things when I fanned through it. A perfect quick read and a break for my brain.

Well I didn't read it over the summer, just picked it up off my shelf last weekend. Motivation was about the same - attended a writing seminar in New York a few weeks ago and ever since I got back have been battling this mounting sense of total inadequacy and doom. Could barely muster the self-confidence to pick something out that I would feel worthy of reading.

Enter KV and his sliver of a book with its hokey cartoon self-portrait on the cover. Ease back in, that was my plan. He's science fiction guy. No problem.

I really don't get what this book was doing on the Beach Reads table. Would like to go back to the store and slap them. It's freaking brilliant. If I read this book while sitting on the beach, I'd probably stand up, walk right into the ocean and keep going. Anyway, I can't do it justice so I won't even try.

One of the sections I liked most, though, was about being a Luddite. This is a person who hates newfangled stuff. Derived from name of a certain Englishman in 1800s who routinely destroyed the machines intended to replace him at his work. KV said he "welcomed" the label.

Count me in! Am about the most technologically unsavvy person I know, and I like it that way. Maybe, MAYBE, will break down and get an mp3 player this winter. But what am I supposed to do with all my CDs? This, my begrudging presence in cyberspace, is hurting my head.

Suppose this is not an appropriate way to be, particularly since I'm not 82. And I do have kids who will likely be forced to embrace "progress" in order to thrive. Not sure how to get over it, but for their sake perhaps I should try.

But which dependency is more destructive - progress or humanity?