The Muse Learns to Write: Reflections on Orality and Literacy from Antiquity to the Present

Havelock presents a picture of the crisis that occurred in Greece when orality transformed itself into literacy. He brings all of his previous works to conclusion in a single perspective covering the Greek literate revolution, the way in which the transformation took place, what it signified at the time, and what it has meant since. Where in earlier works Havelock posits that Homer's two epics were compositions of primary orality, their textual existence and shape representing a faithful rendering of purely acoustic laws of composition as they governed not only style but content, here Havelock contends that the works are the result of an interconnection between the oral and the literate.

He adds that the history of Greek orality plays into today's world. Just as Greece's "crisis in communication" changed not only the Greek means of communication but also Greek consciousness, so does a "crisis in communication" seem to be taking place in the world today as modern technology changes the way we communicate and the way that we think. While Havelock's conception of the Greek transformation is quite convincing, his application to modern culture is a bit vague. Nevertheless, his arguments definitely give those of us who are growing increasingly dependent upon modern communications technologies fuel for thought.

despite its size, havelock's concise summary of his own work , as well as that of some of his peers, is one of the most penetrating and powerful books on language in recent years. with a lucid style truly worthy of a student of classics, havelock recounts a revolution in the study of human language that involved diverse fields such as classics, linguistics, psychology, anthropology, etc.. and as a wonderful classicist, he shows, with authority, just how much the study of classics matter. this is a book you must read