First published in 1994 this book has not become outdated at all; it is powerfully relevant in these days. Barry Sanders was a professor of English and the history of ideas at a university in California at the time of writing and he subtitled this book “The Collapse of Literacy and the Rise of Violence in an Electronic Age.” It is powerful and thought provoking and is a defense of the both the spoken and the written word. Bear in mind that this is not a ‘Christian’ book but it is of vital importance that Christian parents and pastors consider its subject matter. The ground he covers is immense and his basic premise is that human beings are the products of the spoken word and as orality and literacy decline so will true humanity. The human self is rooted in the ability to think, to speak and from that, to read and write, he points out that TV and electronic media displace the art of communication by speaking, the verbal communication between children and parents and peers is being neglected, replaced by non-verbal alternatives. Sanders examines other cultures, especially those in which the story of life is passed on by word of mouth. He instructs us as to the way children acquire facility in speech, language, reading and writing, showing the importance of the mother/child relationship in the acquisition of the ability to communicate. He even indicates differences between breast fed children and those that are fed by the bottle and that such elementary matters have a bearing on speech. In some ways this is quite a frightening book because its author in a compelling manner shows us how our children and young people are losing the oral experience of language that is crucial to the attaining of true personal and intellectual growth. One reviewer says, “He produces what is at once a resounding defense of reading and writing (along with storytelling, singing and joking) and a program for nurturing literacy amid the desert of electronic images.” Throughout he uses a number of words explaining their etymology, these things, in themselves are illuminating. The scope of the book is broad, its reasoning is clear and it demands attention.
