Customer Reviews

Paradigms Lost: The Life and Deaths of the Printed Word

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Saw some of the reviews for this book and thought I'd throw in my two cents.

I was immensely impressed with William Sonn's well researched and written book. There is no academic dryness or gobbledegook at all. The story of man's way out of darkness and into the light is inspiring. And there is never a dull moment. There is a sort of future shock quality to the book, but one does not feel overwhelmed or threatened, as I have been with similar narratives -- which are usually written by professors who don't know how to communicate complex ideas to the lay reader. Sonn cares about people and his subject and that care comes through on every page. The comprehensive nature of the book is really awesome. I found the notes (neatly tacked to the end of each chapter) illuminating and food for further thought and reading on this fascinating subject.

He turns out interesting sentences. Referring to the changes brought about by the introduction of printing, Sonn writes, "So it was that in the last half of the fifteenth century an abrupt new communications tool lobbed scores of ideas into unfamiliar environments. Human memory seemed to expand." Bringing in one famous critic of the church's pretense to virtue, he says, "In the 1490s, a mordantly funny Dutch hypochondriac named Erasmus slowly gained a reputation among a tiny circle of priests and academics as an agile writer, thorough scholar, sharp thinker, and skilled puncturer of hypocrisy."

Paradigms Lost tells the story of how ordinary people of the past never had a chance to learn or become educated until the cost of obtaining information was drastically reduced. Each time some new method of writing or transmission came along, the people benefited, although the bigshots in this world didn't like it. The church, the king, the state or simply the powers that be tried like heck to hold back the advance of civilization. But as knowledge became cheaper and democratic, we all came out ahead.

My one complaint would be that I wish there was a more extensive index. I keep looking things up to go over them again, and a more elaborate index would speed up searching.

A highly accomplished book that is highly recommended.

William Sonn's Paradigms Lost has all of the earmarks of a classic work. This book is profound, enormously instructive, exciting and just a hell of a lot of fun. Written in a crystal clear and contemporary mode, it explains where we came from and where we're going -- from the weak light of isolated and primitive societies to the powerful and collective forces of the world wide web. It is a swiftly paced read that will interest anyone with a taste for history, popular culture or the growth of educated man.

The author begins modestly enough, but then quickly proceeds to unroll an intellectual and stylistic masterpiece of mind-expanding (not to say numbing) scope. It is the kind of book that makes you feel smart and with-it, ahead of the pack. Get hold of it, turn off the TV, and read. You will be well rewarded.

Sonn works with the whole concept of how words and pictures (and thus, knowledge) have been produced, developed and transmitted throughout history. But he goes much further. The book focuses its penetrating lens on a hefty though simple premise: whenever there is a technological change in how we write down, or preserve, or pass on information it is accompanied by upheavals in institutions, governments, wars, industries, religions and civilization as a whole. Sonn shows with extensive documentation how these advances cause a shift in our center of gravity and how the momentum of progress is accelerated. In a way, it is about the heroic rise of man's mental life. Paradigms Lost is a unified field theory of brain power and cerebral propulsion.

Sonn elucidates how knowledge/information was originally in the hands of the world's elite, locking out everyone else from knowing things, keeping them ignorant and in their place. The average person's 'thinking' was confined to a little box of local customs, habits, prejudices and superstitions. Learning was expensive and beyond the means of nearly everyone. Acquiring knowledge was even outright dangerous. But as alphabets, writing and then printing came into being (Sonn tells that epoch-making story with freshness and originality) the cost of knowledge fell sharply and the whole world could wise up faster and more broadly. This changed everything, as the age of computers and extended media continues to do today.

No doubt some nit-pickers will seize upon a few of the book's missteps (Sonn is apparently human). One learned reviewer on this site cites a few of these editorial misfirings. But to dismiss this important book because of them is akin to saying that Columbus did not really discover the New World (since he made frequent gaffs in celestial navigation) but simply bumped into it. Columbus's audacious undertakings paid off handsomely despite any errors along the way; so has Mr. Sonn's efforts.

Sharp folks be warned: you ignore this book at your own peril.

I was so surprised by this book. It traces the history of the printed word and how society has been deeply affected each time the method of print delivery has changed. It reminded me of Tom Friedman's The World is Flat, in that it made me view things in a new way. It is so readable, and funny, that I wish Sonn would write more history - maybe textbooks for my kids. I'll admit that there were times where I skimmmed a bit, but I found myself even reading footnotes, something I never do.

Working in a field where I deal with printed communication on a daily basis I was incredibly intrigued when I heard about this book. After getting a copy and reading it, I was hooked about 50 pages in! This fascinating book traces the accidents, inventions, and forces, as well as the eccentric personalities and geniuses who accelerated information transformation and caused the world to literally change. The book traces the seismic societal shifts which followed each dramatic drop in the cost of written knowledge, back to the beginning of civilization. Though the author doesn't ever claim to know `What's next?' he does provides some background for what, if the past is any guide, may be coming which is the section I was especially drawn too. The author's writing is crisp and fluid, his thoughts are well researched and on the money. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a unique history lesson. You won't be dissapointed!

Mr. Sonn's look at the world of information transmission picks up where McLuhan left off with books like Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. The big difference is Sonn knows how to write.

If you are interested in how mass media got started and where it has been going the last 500-plus years (and where it is currently headed), you will do well to read this book. It is written in a delightfully easy-going style and is interesting all the way through, even when the subject is something relatively dry (like labor strive in the newspaper business).

Very highly recommended. Will be looking for his next book with great interest.

I loved this book! Who knew tht a book about how communication shapes society would make you laugh out loud? But it's more than just entertaining. It's also insightful. I learned a lot.

William Sonn's book concerns the changing technology of print culture, and the implications of these changes. Unfortunately, the first 60 pages of this book are so replete with historical inaccuracies that it boggles the mind. As a result, I had no inclination to read further. Here are some typical examples of these inaccuracies. The Duke of Urbino, Federigo da Montefeltro (1444-1482), a book collector who would not have a printed book in his personal library, is identified as "[t]he most most famous 'printer'" and in business as proprietor of a scriptorium (p.22-23). In discussing Aldus Manutius, Sonn states: "Aldus imagined that the new tool's shaky-smudged output could somehow be made to look more like Vespasiano's elegant works, and upon entering the business, hired the Frenchman Nicolas Jenson to design something better" (p. 53). What the author calls "the new tool's shaky-smudged output" is printing before Aldus, and completely misrepresents the quality of pre-Aldine incunablula printing. In addition, Nicolas Jenson died ca. 1480, many years before Aldus began his printing business in the mid-1490's. Such errors appear over and over again. The writing is also sloppy. For example, the author comments about printing: "After repeating the process more than a hundred times, they made about 150 copies of that page" (p. 39). As I am a book professional and have a Ph.D. in a field in the humanities, I cannot recommended this title under any conditions.