I DON'T share Vic Bonneville's belief that Attleboro's Big Read promotion will reverse the decline of reading in our culture ("Reading is alive and well in Attleboro," Letters, Dec. 6).
The disappearance of reading from our society is a tragedy for all of us, and its replacement with electronic media is not a morally neutral change. However, reading cannot possibly enjoy a renaissance by embracing the gimmicks and quick fixes that have caused its demise. Like libraries that will soon find books a cumbersome nuisance, programs like The Big Read, with their free books, glossy posters, and coverage "on cable access TV," are embarrassing attempts to appease and even embrace the enemies of reading.
Such programs obscure the fact that reading, although a sine qua non of any modern, healthy society, is the solitary act of an independent, individual mind, or the parents of one, not a fad engendered by publicity stunts and manipulated by advertisements.
HERSCHEL OSTROPOL
Wellesley
