I love to read in the bathtub because it’s quiet and peaceful. I like to get away from the phone, from the television, from my boyfriend and immerse myself in some warm bubbles and a good book. Sometimes I even fall asleep with the book resting on my forehead. To me it’s pure bliss.
Somehow, I don’t think that my bathtub reading could be accommodated if I were using one of the new electronic readers, nor would it seem well advised. The Kindle and Kindle 2 (from Amazon), the Nook (a la Barnes and Noble), and Sony’s E-Reader are all options for avid readers on your list this gift-giving season (though I hear B&N’s Nook is already on backorder), but all have been met with very mixed reviews. As a lover of all things literary, I decided to do some research to see just what all the fuss was about anyway.
When I first heard of the Kindle in a review in The New Yorker, I was not all too jazzed about the idea of an electronic reader. As I mentioned before, I love bathtub reading but I also love the smell and the feel of real books. Even when I’m reading something from the Internet I am notorious for printing it out because I hate reading text from a computer screen! Frankly, it gives me a headache. Not to mention the fact that as a person with a Master’s degree in English, I find it almost impossible to read a book without writing in the margins. After years of reading as a serious academic task it becomes pathological. How, I thought to myself, would I be able to make notes in an e-book?
As it turns out, the screen on the Kindle and Kindle 2 actually mimics the look of a real book (though the jury is still out on whether they’ve done this successfully), and you actually can make notes in the margins. Each Kindle comes with a small keyboard below the text for notes and other typing. That solves a couple of practical problems with e-readers, but it still doesn’t make up for the loss of the many sensual pleasures I associate with a lovely, ragged paperback with withered, yellowy pages from overuse, and tons of notes in the margins, or a beautiful leather-bound hardcover with silky thin pages that you must handle with extreme care and respect. There is something psychologically and emotionally satisfying about reading a real book. But, I’m a bit of a romantic this way--a kind of anachronism in this high-tech age, perhaps.
However, this is not to say that I would never buy an electronic reader. I think that where I would find it to be a very practical tool is in the attainment of textbooks and other school related texts for which I have a much less romantic attachment. I wish they would have had electronic readers when I was an undergrad, for I know that it would have saved me a great deal of money in the long term (e-readers go for about $300-$400). Most of the newer models also have free Internet access and a lot of other nifty features, which would make them invaluable to students.
The problem is that most of the books available on electronic readers are not textbooks. This might be because the current college textbook business is a booming one. Students have no choice but to buy textbooks (though now we have more choices when it comes to where we can purchase them with on-line booksellers) and often the books at college bookstores are grossly overpriced and can be sold back for a tiny fraction of what was paid for them. I recall a freshman coming out of the campus bookstore when I was in grad school muttering to himself, “I’ve been robbed…I’ve been robbed!” I think electronic readers would be a tremendous boon to poor college students everywhere.
This being said, I hope with all my heart that real books never go away completely. I’m not a Luddite but I’d truly miss my old, withered, written-in paperback favorites. They hold so many memories. New isn’t always better, sometimes it’s just new.
Somehow, I don’t think that my bathtub reading could be accommodated if I were using one of the new electronic readers, nor would it seem well advised. The Kindle and Kindle 2 (from Amazon), the Nook (a la Barnes and Noble), and Sony’s E-Reader are all options for avid readers on your list this gift-giving season (though I hear B&N’s Nook is already on backorder), but all have been met with very mixed reviews. As a lover of all things literary, I decided to do some research to see just what all the fuss was about anyway.
When I first heard of the Kindle in a review in The New Yorker, I was not all too jazzed about the idea of an electronic reader. As I mentioned before, I love bathtub reading but I also love the smell and the feel of real books. Even when I’m reading something from the Internet I am notorious for printing it out because I hate reading text from a computer screen! Frankly, it gives me a headache. Not to mention the fact that as a person with a Master’s degree in English, I find it almost impossible to read a book without writing in the margins. After years of reading as a serious academic task it becomes pathological. How, I thought to myself, would I be able to make notes in an e-book?
As it turns out, the screen on the Kindle and Kindle 2 actually mimics the look of a real book (though the jury is still out on whether they’ve done this successfully), and you actually can make notes in the margins. Each Kindle comes with a small keyboard below the text for notes and other typing. That solves a couple of practical problems with e-readers, but it still doesn’t make up for the loss of the many sensual pleasures I associate with a lovely, ragged paperback with withered, yellowy pages from overuse, and tons of notes in the margins, or a beautiful leather-bound hardcover with silky thin pages that you must handle with extreme care and respect. There is something psychologically and emotionally satisfying about reading a real book. But, I’m a bit of a romantic this way--a kind of anachronism in this high-tech age, perhaps.
However, this is not to say that I would never buy an electronic reader. I think that where I would find it to be a very practical tool is in the attainment of textbooks and other school related texts for which I have a much less romantic attachment. I wish they would have had electronic readers when I was an undergrad, for I know that it would have saved me a great deal of money in the long term (e-readers go for about $300-$400). Most of the newer models also have free Internet access and a lot of other nifty features, which would make them invaluable to students.
The problem is that most of the books available on electronic readers are not textbooks. This might be because the current college textbook business is a booming one. Students have no choice but to buy textbooks (though now we have more choices when it comes to where we can purchase them with on-line booksellers) and often the books at college bookstores are grossly overpriced and can be sold back for a tiny fraction of what was paid for them. I recall a freshman coming out of the campus bookstore when I was in grad school muttering to himself, “I’ve been robbed…I’ve been robbed!” I think electronic readers would be a tremendous boon to poor college students everywhere.
This being said, I hope with all my heart that real books never go away completely. I’m not a Luddite but I’d truly miss my old, withered, written-in paperback favorites. They hold so many memories. New isn’t always better, sometimes it’s just new.
To learn more about the Amazon Kindle go to:
At the 2009 National Book Awards T.J. Stiles spoke for the printed word, "The advent of the e-book is fooling people into thinking that none of these people [editers, publishers, marketers, etc.] are necessary anymore. If they cease to exist, the books will only be worth the paper they are not printed on." Nice blog! -Tuesday
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