by Seth Warburton

Our disheartening subject today is that well-known instrument of repression, that symbol of deluded decadence, that cathode-rayed betrayer of sensible taste and thief of precious reading time: the television.  

At least in the days of my youth (now, alas, long fled, and along with them seemingly all morality) the television was a blocky instrument, possessed of three dimensions and therefor useful as a shelf.  In these debauched, modern times, the television has grown hedonistically thin, and thus completely useless even as a surface for piling books. 

What use then have I discovered for the television?  Well, I’ve found that perusing upcoming television schedules, packed as they are with shows adapted from books, reminds me of just how magnificent books truly are.  What a wealth of great reading suggestions can you now find in the television guide! 

Consider “Washington Black,” by Esi Edugyan, appearing as a mini-series this summer.  The title character, known as Wash, is born a slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados.  At eleven, Wash is pulled from the fields and assigned to be the assistant of his master’s eccentric brother, Titch, a scientist and inventor.  Titch finds in Wash a keen mind and an able illustrator, and begins treating Wash as an apprentice in his scientific endeavors. Forced to flee the plantation, Wash grows up in fear of slave hunters. Though there’s plenty of adventure, the marvel of the book is watching a life that bears slavery’s scars, but is defined instead by scientific curiosity. 

Perhaps reading historical fiction doesn’t appeal?  Try some science fiction with Murderbot, the series based on Martha Wells’ “All Systems Red.” Murderbot is a security unit - half organic human, half machine - and committed to using only half of its attention to keep its current clients safe, saving the rest to stream media.  Like most television viewers, Murderbot is socially inept and struggles to find friends.  When its current charges find their lives threatened by an evil corporation, Murderbot is surprised to find that it actually cares about their safety.  This is a fast-moving and often funny adventure tale you can read in a single afternoon, provided you leave the television off.

No, I haven’t watched any of these shows and, frankly, neither should you.  Why settle for an adaptation when the original is so close at hand?  Come to the Ames Public Library for these, and other books, that outshine their adaptations.