Another interesting articles on eReaders. I can't believe these stats!
- 15% of Americans use eReaders (up from 8% last year)
- 16% of Americans read 11-20 books a year, but Americans with an eReader read a lot more - 32% read 11-20 books
http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/study-e-reader-use-continues-grow?utm_source=MagnetMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=mary.malphurs@target.com&utm_content=RT-NLE-RT-AM-09-20-11&utm_campaign=Retailing%20Today%20Daily%20Edition%3A%2009/20/11
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Bookless Libraries
I love Facebook. It is a cool way to get connected with old friends and acquaintances. It's also a great way to find links to topics you might not otherwise see. My former classmate Ann Heys-Caffrey posts a lot of neat articles. For example, she posted this article by Time on the concept a bookless library and this one about the future of e-readers from NPR.
For me, I am able to separate the idea of a library with no books, and a book in e-reader form. The idea of a library in electronic form, doesn't seem that crazy. According to Merriam Webster, the definition of a library is a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale. This doesn't speak to the physical manifestation of the materials. An electronic library seems akin to listening to music that is record to CD or MP3 versus live music. There's something to be said for experiencing music live, but one can certainly glean a great amount of satisfaction and emotional response from recorded music. It feels like it can be the same thing for books, you can still absorb information from an electronic format, like you can from a hard or soft cover book. It's also easier to sort through information electronically with search terms and key words to get right to the information you are trying to find.
That being said, the idea of living in a world without real physical books is so disappointing to me. I can't imagine growing up without experiencing the comfort of a physical book. The feel, smell, weight and even the font of a book in one's hands is not replaced by internet reading or a Kindle. The experience is more tactile and feels more real. The book feels almost like a friend you can take from place to place, without the need for a power cord. And that sense of accomplishment when you turn the final page can be so exhilarating. In reading a physical book, I generally savor the words. I find I'm much more likely to skim when I read something electronically. Electronic formats feel more like work, since I do emails all day long. For me, it's not very relaxing to stare into a glowing screen (or a Kindle screen) to absorb my Barbara Kingsolver. Also I learn better with the physical act of highlighting passages in text books, or editing a hard copy of an article for Junior League.
I know e-readers may be the future in terms of textbooks, research materials and even novels. But I for one will continue to buy physical books when reading for pleasure. The experience of a physical book cannot compare to the packaged consumerized version delivered electronically.
Check two off the Time list!
An American Tragedy:
After MONTHS of reading, procrastinating and trips to the library, I finally finished An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. I thought this book was well written, but it took me so long to get through since I didn't really relate to any of the characters, I felt like there was too much build up in Book 1 that wasn't very relevant to the story and I don't love courtroom dramas.
I did, however, find it so interesting that a true story that was the inspiration of this fictional piece. The was a murder on a lake in New York in 1906, where a man offed his pregnant lover. His name was Chester Gillette. In the book, the main character is named Clyde Griffiths, and I think it's so neat how the initials were the same. The novel follows the true story to a tee. It seems that only the peripheral characters had much development outside the original news story.
I don't think I would recommend this book. It was too long, and I felt like the main character was so trite and one dimensional - his mantra (not that he could conceive of something like this) was: follow his penis to the highest society woman he can get. He couldn't really come to grips with the fact that what he was doing to his estranged lover Roberta was wrong, and once he was convicted, he did everything he could to make it look like he had changed his moral core. To me, Griffiths was a symbol of the American Dream gone all wrong. He was able to climb up through society even with a past and a poor family, but then when his lust got the better of him, he couldn't own up to the situation and make things right.
Catch-22:
I also read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller over a weekend on vacation in Florida. It wasn't a great beach read since it's a complex story, not just a pleasure read. It took me quite a while to get into the humor of the situations and appreciate the character development. My favorite characters were the doctor and the minister. There was something so sweetly sad about the deaths of Yossarian's comrades during WWII. Although it was initially confusing, I really liked the out-of-sequence story telling.
The definition of a Catch-22, now a part of modern day language is this (thanks wikipedia for citing this passage):
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. (p. 46, ch. 5)
I know this novel has been analyzed a lot, and I don't feel I will be able to do justice to this work without extensive dialog with a discussion group. I read this book from the view point of a curious fly on the wall. I focused on the behaviors of the men, the immoral actions that were directly in conflict with their mental state (or vice versa). The juxtaposition of how the characters acted compared to how you expected them to act was really interesting. I felt like most of the characters were cowards. But then you have to think - these are young men in a very serious war. That is pretty scary stuff and would likely make anyone act a boastful and yellow at the same time.
I'm reading The Happiness Project for book club, as well as Sense and Sensibility. More to come soon!
After MONTHS of reading, procrastinating and trips to the library, I finally finished An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. I thought this book was well written, but it took me so long to get through since I didn't really relate to any of the characters, I felt like there was too much build up in Book 1 that wasn't very relevant to the story and I don't love courtroom dramas.
I did, however, find it so interesting that a true story that was the inspiration of this fictional piece. The was a murder on a lake in New York in 1906, where a man offed his pregnant lover. His name was Chester Gillette. In the book, the main character is named Clyde Griffiths, and I think it's so neat how the initials were the same. The novel follows the true story to a tee. It seems that only the peripheral characters had much development outside the original news story.
I don't think I would recommend this book. It was too long, and I felt like the main character was so trite and one dimensional - his mantra (not that he could conceive of something like this) was: follow his penis to the highest society woman he can get. He couldn't really come to grips with the fact that what he was doing to his estranged lover Roberta was wrong, and once he was convicted, he did everything he could to make it look like he had changed his moral core. To me, Griffiths was a symbol of the American Dream gone all wrong. He was able to climb up through society even with a past and a poor family, but then when his lust got the better of him, he couldn't own up to the situation and make things right.
Catch-22:
I also read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller over a weekend on vacation in Florida. It wasn't a great beach read since it's a complex story, not just a pleasure read. It took me quite a while to get into the humor of the situations and appreciate the character development. My favorite characters were the doctor and the minister. There was something so sweetly sad about the deaths of Yossarian's comrades during WWII. Although it was initially confusing, I really liked the out-of-sequence story telling.
The definition of a Catch-22, now a part of modern day language is this (thanks wikipedia for citing this passage):
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. (p. 46, ch. 5)
I know this novel has been analyzed a lot, and I don't feel I will be able to do justice to this work without extensive dialog with a discussion group. I read this book from the view point of a curious fly on the wall. I focused on the behaviors of the men, the immoral actions that were directly in conflict with their mental state (or vice versa). The juxtaposition of how the characters acted compared to how you expected them to act was really interesting. I felt like most of the characters were cowards. But then you have to think - these are young men in a very serious war. That is pretty scary stuff and would likely make anyone act a boastful and yellow at the same time.
I'm reading The Happiness Project for book club, as well as Sense and Sensibility. More to come soon!
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