"On or about June 2007, human character changed. The human sensorium changed, marking a transition in how we perceive the world and conduct our relationships."
"The mutation seems at once massive and slippery; the effects are phenomena without edges, pervasive yet noticeable only when caught by middle-distance memory."
"Capturing changes like these calls less for history than for the oldest of forms, fable. A fable can evoke the threshold in human cognition that was crossed."
"Transcription is set in a contemporary milieu but explores a man's dislocation and search for home in a world transformed by the smartphone."
The introduction of the smartphone, particularly the iPhone in June 2007, initiated a profound change in human perception and relationships. This transformation is likened to historical shifts in societal norms, such as those described by Virginia Woolf. The effects of this change are subtle yet pervasive, making it difficult to recognize differences from the recent past. Ben Lerner's novel, Transcription, embodies this change, exploring themes of dislocation and the search for belonging in a transformed world, using the narrative style of a fable to capture the essence of this transition.
Read at The Atlantic
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