Today’s BTT topic is precisely what I wanted to write about today — my new Kindle!! Before I wax rhapsodic, let me share this week’s BTT topic:
Something a little different today–
First. Go read this great article from Time Magazine: Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature.
Second. Stop and think about it for moment. Computers and digital media are changing everything we do these days, whether we realize it or not, and that includes our beloved books.
Third. Tell us what you think. Do you have an ebook reader? Do you read ebooks on your computer? Do you hate the very thought? How do you feel about the fact that book publishing is changing and facing much the same existential dilemma as the music industry upon the creation of MP3s?
Now, before I share my thoughts on the above article, just a bit about my recent Kindle experience…
I was hesitant to get one because I LOVE my library — and am fortunate to read so many ARC (i.e. free) books that publishers send to me to review. Plus, I read about 2-3 books a week and do not have the time or inclination to reread 99.9% of what I read. So, why in the world would I pay for books I will only read once when I have too many free books coming at me from all sides?
Then my dad generously bought me a Kindle for Christmas, and I was just too curious not to try it out. I decided to only purchase “literary” works of fiction and non-fiction that I would then review and most likely create discussion questions for.
So, I downloaded Nam Le’s The Boat (questions coming soon!), Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth, and Gordon’s The Hemingses of Monticello, threw my Kindle in my bag and jumped on an airplane for 21 hours (one way). I also packed a couple of “traditional” books as a back-up in case the Kindle experience was less than satisfying.
Well, happily, I loved the Kindle experience! It was extremely user-friendly and so easy to get used to. In fact, I didn’t even have to “get used” to it. I found myself ignoring the back-up books completely and bringing my Kindle everywhere.
Now, I do have three little complaints — one, the screen should have the option of being back-lit. A man sitting near me had the Sony Reader and the back-lit screen was wonderful. Second, I hate not knowing page numbers — especially with a short story. I felt disoriented not knowing where in the story I was. Third, as I previously mentioned, I really don’t like having to buy books. This third negative will keep me from using my Kindle very often — but the actual experience was splendid! And if I can use it to read my Google Reader for free, then I will certainly use it daily.
Now, on to the article… in case you don’t have time to read it, here are two passages that jumped out at me:
Literature interprets the world, but it’s also shaped by that world, and we’re living through one of the greatest economic and technological transformations since–well, since the early 18th century. The novel won’t stay the same: it has always been exquisitely sensitive to newness, hence the name. It’s about to renew itself again, into something cheaper, wilder, trashier, more democratic and more deliriously fertile than ever…
…And what will that fiction look like? Like fan fiction, it will be ravenously referential and intertextual in ways that will strain copyright law to the breaking point. Novels will get longer–electronic books aren’t bound by physical constraints–and they’ll be patchable and updatable, like software. We’ll see more novels doled out episodically, on the model of TV series or, for that matter, the serial novels of the 19th century. We can expect a literary culture of pleasure and immediate gratification. Reading on a screen speeds you up: you don’t linger on the language; you just click through. We’ll see less modernist-style difficulty and more romance-novel-style sentiment and high-speed-narrative throughput. Novels will compete to hook you in the first paragraph and then hang on for dear life.
While these predictions are interesting to ponder — I must say that I disagree. First, while using my Kindle I still lingered over Lahiri and Le’s prose — the format did not affect my love of their language in the least.
Second, I’m not convinced that changing how we read a work would necessarily change how the work was written? That doesn’t seem logical to me… It is true that it was quicker to “click” a page rather than turn it, but I doubt this will somehow lead to high-speed, trashy romances taking over the publishing world (although they have their place, too). So, the article was interesting, but seemed to include quite a few logical fallacies.
Now, for another interesting perspective on this topic, here is an article I’ve been pondering the last few months… 5 reasons why I won’t give up books. Mazerado really does wax rhapsodic about how she loves the aesthetic nature of books, cherishes curling up with a brand-new novel, remembers an emotional connection every time she sees the cover on her shelf… And I was sure I would feel the same way.
But what I’ve now realized is that the magic of reading actually has little to do with the object itself — it truly is the magic of choosing the right words and placing them in the right order… And I can’t imagine technology changing that experience — ever.
So, anyone else love or hate their Kindle?
Interesting, thoughtful post. I expect the kindle will change the way books are written, but I think it’s foolhard to predict how.
Look at how advances in printing, mainly improved computer use, have made graphic novels possible. All these books you see with creative typefaces, pictures, diagrams, all sorts of things, like words running up and down, photographs, etc. all at about the same cost as a regular book. Those would not have been possible 30 years ago. Now they’re everywhere, it seems.
I think Kindles will make it possible for everyone to be a self-published author. It costs nothing to load a video up to You Tube and now everyone’s a filmmaker and broadcast television is suffering. Why should it cost anything to upload a novel to the web. Ta-da, you’re a published writer.
It should be an interesting up-coming decade for books.
Interesting comments! I don’t have a kindle — But I do have a handheld device that lets me read txt files. So I download project gutenberg books, etc. I also have found it incredibly handy in my travels.
I can’t imagine NOT having a backlit screen. That’s why I love it at night before falling asleep — I don’t have to get up and turn off the light. That would make the KIndle half as useful to me.
I also would never BUY books for it. And I hear the Kindle books are getting more expensive. So I’ll stick to a reader without a proprietary format.
CB JAmes’ comment is interesting: yes, it means that self-published authors can get “published” more easily. But I don’t think they will be read more often. I think people are more discerning of what they read. But I could be wrong. I still agree with you, Kristen, that reading on a screen keeps the words powerful.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, CB and Rebecca. Innovations like the Kindle do allow us to rethink the way we do (read, write) things… I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we!?
I bet Kindle 3.0 will have a backlit screen! Now we just need to get Kindle hooked up w/ a Netflix type of deal…
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I beleive this technology is in very early stage. It will become much more friendly (and much much cheaper in time).
I have three boks on Kindle, including a collection of connected stories called These Precious Hours. I hope I fnd some kindle readers.
Michael Corrigan