13 november 2015

Some thoughts about The Typewriter Revolution, by Richard Polt

After I read The Typewriter Revolution, by Richard Polt, I couldn't wait using a typewriter and entering the Typosphere. Here are some thoughts about the book. Sorry for the slow start in the typecast; I've never written more on a typewriter than just a few sentences.

Written on Continental Silenta #754,401 (late 1939).

Click on the pictures to enlarge.







4 opmerkingen:

Ted zei

Agree about Polt, for a man with so many irons in the fire, he has always been very generous with his attention to others. He is kindness personified. (:

About the fountain pen vs. typewriter debate, I'm not sure I agree, mainly because I don't think the *thing* matters so much as the degree to which it functions to break one out an unproductive thought pattern. Fountain pens and typewriters serve the same purpose that makes us want to create with them, and really differ only in the complexity, size and "strangeness" of their mechanisms. Using a fountain pen is a very subdued public statement - some may notice, but most won't. Using a typewriter however, is a very brash public statement, as you have already noted, and therefore is a sort of badge that incites much stronger enthusiasm and awareness of the *purpose* of the device. You write with a typewriter because why else would you own the thing? Everyone writes with a pen, so owning a fountain pen doesn't make you want to write more, but you kind of have to justify to yourself the ownership of a typewriter these days, and I would say (at least in my case) the mere ownership of the device forces me to write more, for the same reason that owning a fancy sports car makes you want to drive more, and makes driving more enjoyable.

Anoniem zei

A very elaborate and intriguing review, the largest typewritten review I ever saw, which gives another argument, I hope, to buy the book that belongs to Polt’s Manifesto.

Jos Legrand

Jasper zei

Goeie review, goeie gedachten!

shordzi zei

I come in late to comment on this, but thank you very much for this review, and your thoughts. Time for me to pick up my copy of the manifesto again and continue reading.