On books and the world's ability to contain them

"Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." John 21:25 (ESV)

I have always loved this little snippet from the tail end of John's gospel, but a rather sacrilegious thought occurred to me as I read it anew this morning...what if this bit of scripture were applied to e-books?  We are in the midst of a phenomenon, previously any one wanting to get published must survive the passage of the gatekeepers of the major publishing companies which is a miraculous feat worthy of an epic poem in commemoration, but now anyone with a word processor and an Internet connection can get their book in print!  There are literally millions of new books virtually published each year and the number grows exponentially by the day.  Perhaps we have entered a day that the apostle never dreamed though I am sure he would be appalled that though we have the technology, the content is not as he would envision it.  He would see all the words and deeds of Jesus recorded yet we have a blinding plethora of topics and writing styles, so much so that one hardly knows where to begin in their search for 'a good read.'

There are pros and cons to this phenomenon as with all that happens under the sun.  Any aspiring author can now realize the dream of having their words in print but this also brings a torrent of poorly edited or written manuscripts to the public for consumption and they may well choke on the first bite and fear taking another. It also makes it much harder to find a good book amidst all the clutter of mediocre and poor books.  Though it also makes it possible to find a great author who otherwise might never have been published.  It is a brave new world in literature and if wise, bibliophiles may well grow drunk on this flood of literary potential, but ware lest we become sick from imbibing too many poor works.  But we can always take comfort in the fact that a book that has survived for hundreds (or even thousands) of years is likely well worth consuming.  John need never fear that his own words will be washed away in the flood of recent literary innovation for, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Isaiah 40:8 (ESV).  The e-book universe may well be a tower of Babel, but at least there is still sense found in the classics if ever you weary of the Dionysian festival of modern and e-literature.