How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
"The idea that Lotaria reads my books in this way creates some problems for me. Now, every time I write a word, I see it spun around by the electronic brain, ranked according to its frequency, next to other words who identity I cannot know." (15.104)
You're probably not surprised to hear that Calvino associates education with a loss of innocence. Silas Flannery writes this passage in his diary following a meeting with Lotaria, in which Lotaria told him about how a computer can draw conclusions from his books by analyzing how often the books use certain words. Basically, Flannery wishes he didn't know that this type of reader was out there, because now he finds he can't write without worrying about what a computer will make of his work. Flannery's pleasure in writing has already fallen into crisis, and learning about Lotaria's way of reading only makes things worse. Remember the good ol' days what it was actual humans who read books?