Boris Strugatsky expressed his view on eBooks

The interview with Boris Strugatsky has been arranged by the Presidential Library jointly with RIA Novosti as a part of preparation for the press conference “Electronic Book: Modern Technologies and Book Industry”.

– Have you ever foreseen in any of your fantastic stories the appearance of anything like an eBook?

– As far as I remember, no. We have just never thought “in this direction”.

– What is your opinion about electronic books? Do traditional editions face a stiff competition nowadays? Will an eBook displace a “paper” one? If yes, when do you think this could happen?

– It is hard to underestimate the benefits of an eBook: a fantastic compactness, unlimited opportunities for illustration (moving illustrations; controllable illustrations; writer’s illustrations). Incredible possibilities for work with text (reference option; cross-text data exchange option; opportunities of using marginal notes). Of no small importance for commerce is the possibility of using eBooks as an advertising medium. My personal experience of work with an eBook (though rather trifling) lets me think that it has already won the competition. As a matter of fact, even if the prestige of a paper book still remains today, it is backed by only two “unsteady” whales: an age-old habit and relatively low prices for a paper book (to be more precise, relative to the so far high price of an eBook). However, habits come with time, while we are well aware that the electronics tends to get cheaper. Thus, “these are miserable whales which can drown easily”.

– Is there a chance that the advance of an eBook can result in extinction of modern forms of literary works? Is there a threat that it may somehow change the writing craft?

– I rather doubt it. In course of last two centuries, when a fellow-writer had been improving his tools from a quill pen (nowadays it is unclear how to take it) up to an advanced supercompact copier, I haven’t noticed any remarkable shifts in the process of creating new forms of literary works. The sole (however, doubtful) gain of the progress is expressed in indescribable overflow of pseudo-literature, online literature and careless work in general. However with regard to technical opportunities, writing has become a much easier process: more words in a time unit can be poured out to readers along with a greater number of pages to bombard him with.    

– Is an eBook able to make reading a more popular pastime?

– Yes, it is! However in this case under reading we will understand a rather different process, than we mean today. This will be a kind of a literary karaoke: reading-composing-drawing... and perhaps singing! united under one simple scenario. A variety of a table game – “we look for fun and think of nothing”. When we mean a Sacrament of Reading, eBooks can hardly change anything in this process. As nowadays, as always, this will be the Work of Soul, and I can hardly imagine why anyone “would make this work easier”.