Friday, September 13, 2013

Cultural Decline in Washington, DC


The locations of the three bookstores I used to frequent in Washington, in photographs taken today. Above, the former Barnes & Noble on M Street in Georgetown. Now, Nike Sculpt: Our Best Fit. Ever.


The former Borders on L Street downtown. Now, Nordstrom Rack: Style Above All, Prices Below Reason.

The former Barnes & Noble in Union Station. Now a plywood wall, soon to be an H&M.

Sigh.
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3 comments:

Thomas said...

Well, depends on what you mean by "culture," but if you mean the lovely culture of book stores, then, yes, that culture is in decline. It's not clear that these book stores were serving much in the way of cultural significance.

Loosely related, but I've always loved the metaphor in the title "The Lost Language of the Cranes." A toddler, left in a high rise tower during the day, starts developing language to talk the the building cranes outside his window. It is a lovely thing that is destroyed when he is "saved" and properly socialized.

In that novel, the metaphor is for the closeted gay culture, and the fact that, as society became more tolerant of gays, a lot of that culture fell away as unnecessary. Lovely

Not that this is quite like that - the book store was not a symptom of cultural dysfunction.

I started missing music stores far earlier. Sheet music is so much fun to browse by the ton. Still, I can download pretty much any classical music score and read along while listening, if I like, which was virtually impossible to do.

I do notice, you've got your self-published eBook listed at the top right of this blog. :)


September 14, 2013 at 7:34 PM
Thomas said...

In a related confession, I didn't read "Lost Language." I saw the PBS-broadcast movie.

September 14, 2013 at 7:36 PM
John said...

I am as guilty as anyone for the decline of book stores, since I did most of my book buying online even before they disappeared. But I still find it weird that neither the Georgetown commercial district nor the two dozen blocks of office buildings and condominiums in the western part of downtown Washington can support a single book store.

But the self-publishing thing wasn't my fault. I tried to go the establishment route.

September 14, 2013 at 8:05 PM

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