It's the end of the world as we know it

Well, not just yet. Maybe it's only the decline of western (literary) civilization, suggests Prague Post critic Stephan Delbos.

In a meandering inquiry, he begins with a quote from a literary godfather . . .

“To have great poets, there must be great audiences,” declared Walt Whitman, the father of American poetry. Indeed, one wonders whether the language will ever again be endowed with such towering figures as Whitman, and sadly, the outlook is not promising. But why?

...then continues with the too-familiar lament about how the Internet is eating our brains:

More recently, the Internet seems to be the main culprit in the decline of great literature and great audiences. Several books – yes, books – examining the subject have recently been published, including Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows, a study of the Internet’s effects on brain functions such as memory and concentration. The book sprang from Carr’s fascinating 2008 article in The Atlantic Monthly in which he detailed his suspicions that reading texts on the Internet was impairing his ability to read for long periods.

....and finally concludes with this rather wooden metaphor in reference to Franzen's Freedom:

How majestic that last tree on Easter Island must have looked – palm fronds flicking in the warm sea breeze – as it shuddered, heaved and fell.

Now how about a toast to the future?