TIMELY MATTERS: Thanks to Dad, a 'pro

Aug 22, 2023

Hennessy

My father, Daniel Fredrick Hennessy, God rest his soul, was a great guy and more than just an avid reader. He was a creature of habit and his number one habit was reading. His innate hesitancy toward change translated to an air of constancy about our house, and the shelves of books dominating one entire wall of the living room from floor to ceiling were always an inspiration as well as a source of family pride for me when visitors came to the house: “Wow … I didn’t know you lived in a library …”

Dad read what he liked to read, unconcerned with what the highfalutin book reviews might have to say on the subject. He read the kind of stuff that emphasized dramatic storytelling over deep thematic moral or political commentary. He loved the Edgar Rice Burroughs “Tarzan” books and read all 24 paperback versions of them. He also read his way through Zane Grey’s American West, books which had great titles like “Riders of the Purple Sage.” He owned a nice-looking hardcover set of those. Rounding out the rest of the living room library were a set of Collier’s Encyclopedias and a section devoted to detective novels dominated by Dashiell Hammett, the creator of Sam Spade, the first illustrious “P.I.” who was brought to the big screen most famously by none other than Humphrey Bogart.

Observing Dad’s daily reading habit opened the door to the timeless universe of literary adventure to me, a lifelong journey with no end in sight. Whether he was in his living room armchair or at the kitchen table — chair tilted back, slippered feet resting on the door handle of the oven — Dad’s stoic deportment while reading was that of a trained sniper with long lines of words in his crosshairs.

Today, reading a book isn’t the only reading medium; electronic screens have shimmered and shimmied their peculiar way onto the scene, which smacks to me of the sudden onset of “fast-food” in the 1950s and ‘60s. Over a quarter of American adults eat fast-food daily today and now we seem to be accepting the reality of “fast-books” for the same reason as fast-food: the expansion of personal convenience. But is a similar loss of “nutritional value” included in the shift from paper-and-ink to backlit screen? Some research suggests that recall of plot after using an e-reader is poorer than with traditional books. A 2012 Norwegian study that “involved two randomized groups of 10th graders …” concluded that “students who read texts in print scored significantly better on the reading comprehension test than students who read the texts digitally.” [sciencedirect.com]

I realize that the matter may not be quite so straightforward as I make it out to be. My deeply rooted pro-book bias is well immunized against arguments defending “screen reading” as any kind of worthy substitute for old-fashioned book reading. With electronic screens silently and all-too-brightly beckoning, will paper-and-glue books remain an indispensable thread in the fabric of our cultural heritage? Or will the paper-and-ink book stand merely as a beloved archaic symbol to our children’s children’s children?

In the episode of “Star Trek” titled, “Obsession,” Mr. Spock says to Dr. McCoy, “... fortunately, I read somewhat faster (than you).” Being that the half-Vulcan, half-human died at approximate age of 161 years and 361 days, that could entail a lot of books being internalized at Vulcan speed. Consider that a Yale University study of over 3,000 people found that book readers live longer than non-readers by nearly two years on average [JaneAustenlf.org]. Might Spock’s iconic Vulcan salute of “Live long and prosper” be schmoozed into a delectable little soundbite of wisdom that reads, “Read long and prosper?” Makes sense to me. Spock, too, I’d bet.

Whether you prefer the likes of Zane Grey westerns, Hammett’s Sam Spade mysteries, the Harry Potter books, or even graphic novels, by all means pick up an old-fashioned paper-and-glue book, read long, and prosper. I bet my library card that Dad’s up there reading right now, slippers on, feet on the oven door handle. When I get there I’m going straight to the kitchen to find him and see what he’s reading.

Hennessy is a retired teacher, certificated Holocaust educator, and author of the book “Remembrance and Repentance: The Call to Remember and Memorialize the Holocaust.” His love of history is inspired by intensive study of the Holocaust, the events that led up to it, and how the passage of time plays such a forceful role in all of our lives. His “Timely Matters” runs monthly in the Finger Lakes Times. Contact him at [email protected].

Hennessy

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