E-Readers versus Real Books

Books - a part of my life. I love them. Especially books like this:


My life has changed, in a way I'd never have predicted. I am now the owner of a Kindle. Me! Me, who loves holding onto the past, and who thought that e-readers were only for people who had forgotten how soul-satisfying it is to hold a book, people for whom the tactile part of the reading experience no longer had any meaning. I felt sorry for those people. Deep down sorry. For their ignorance in what they felt was progress, for what they were traitorously losing and destroying without even knowing they were losing or destroying anything.


My sister and her family are to blame, and I am thankful that they helped me to see that it is possible to embrace a new world without losing my grasp on the old one. Thanks, L!

So, I have a Kindle. I can carry around over 3,500 books with me wherever I go - most of which have cost me nothing at all - in my small leather backpack (*note to self for future blog post: leather bags from the Saddleback Leather Company*) - without breaking my back. I still love books; from their smell to the way it feels to turn real pages to the way they look on my shelf. Love them (especially old old ones with deliciously antique bindings).

I have this cover, in chocolate brown. Not the cheapest cover out there, but the light is great - powered by the device itself, and quite comfortable to read with in a completely dark room.


What is it then, about this thin piece of tech?

In a word - power!

The power to have access to the information I need and want, when I need and want it. It's that simple. I am finding that I can get lost in the joy of a really good e-book just as easily (if not more so) as a book with printed pages. What is more important, the information, or its packaging/method of delivery to our brain? A gorgeous and satisfying printed book is, after all, of no lasting, real use whatsoever if it does not contain ideas which have the potential to raise us to a higher level.

Technology is my servant, it does my bidding. I am not its slave. Well, that's what I'm aiming for, anyway. So many times I see people using hand held technology to connect with people and computers in far distant places, while neglecting to interact with the living breathing people right in front of them. I have been guilty of being like this... it feels fun and even exhilarating at the time, but all I was left with in the long term was a feeling of hollowed out emptiness. Not to mention the example I was setting for my children; they don't need much encouragement to fall into this trap so it's important I show the way by modelling responsible behaviour.

It is my opinion that for many people (me included), remaining the master of the various pieces of technology that surround us instead of becoming their slave, will require constant concerted efforts on our part. I do not think it is going too far or being melodramatic to say that constant watchful vigilance is vital to safeguard ourselves and our families from going down the gurgler of 'progression' and losing the link to who we really are and should be.


Some really good books I've read lately:

• The Boy Who Drew In The Mud by Zachary Harper
A series of parables/fables for adults and children alike, some in prose, some in poetic form. Magic.

• The Muirwood Trilogy by Jeff Wheeler
A fantasy story with a medieval flavour. Very well written, great story, brilliant symbolism. Reading this series has helped me listen more closely and carefully to the whisperings of intuition that come from time to time.

• The Little Hunchback Zia by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Classic short tale of a 12 year old hunchback boy who is cast out. Ends happily as you might guess. Makes good bedtime reading for older children (and for adults).

• Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
A delightful melting pot of brilliantly portrayed contrasting characters in typical Dickensian style. Also highly recommended by my whole family is the recent BBC adaptation of the same name. (We were singing "Qu'est-ce qui passe ici si tard" for weeks, and shuddering delightfully everytime someone sang or whistled the tune)

So many truly good books to chose from! I am trying to become discerning as it is more than possible to waste a lot of time trawling through less than excellent literature. Amazon (and other e-book companies) give away multitudes of free e-books if you can be bothered checking for them regularly. I have been....and have wasted lots of time. As I said, trying to become more discerning. Currently there are over 100 books in my To Read: Fiction folder, and my To Read: Non Fiction folder. All were free, from this page at Amazon which changes daily, so they tell me. A great resource, but beware! Lots of dross amongst the gold, and the sheer number of book available is overwhelming and potentially time wasting.

...........

One last thought: something I miss about holding a real book, beautiful bindings aside, is knowing how far I am through the book by the feel of the weight of pages on each side as I hold it open. It's just not the same looking at a digital percentage figure.

Why I don't like Twilight anymore

I read this series because my girls were reading them, wanted to know what they were getting into, and I'm telling you, this stuff is addictive. An interesting story though not very well written in my opinion, flaws in the story line all over the place, but still highly emotionally addictive. Kind of like food with lots of MSG; tastes good, leaves you hungry for more, but doesn't satisfy in a healthy way.

I don't by any means condemn the Edwards and Bellas of this world for being in love, not by a long shot. A well portrayed romance gets me every time, I love them. This one had me for a while, but in the end just didn't cut it for various reasons; reasons which are personal and my way of thinking about what is right and wrong for me. I am not and will not judge anyone who still loves the books, this is an individual journey, and I'm attempting to describe part of my journey here.

LDS girls of all ages are getting into this by the droves, and I can see why: these books are promoted as "clean", "no bad stuff at all in them". So girls who are taught that sex before marriage is wrong, can get a hormonal fix as their baser emotions are aroused through reading about one couple's desires in surprisingly evocative detail. To me this goes against the spirit of a very serious and wise principle.

A theme that runs through all four books has a teenage couple unable to function without thinking about or being with one another all the time, not a healthy thing in my opinion.

In the first book there is a scene where the boy spends the night in the girl's bedroom, just to watch her and protect her. Nothing excommunicable happens, other than the fact that he is IN HER BEDROOM - a no-no in no uncertain terms from an LDS perspective, and there is a very passionate kiss that is broken off, eventually, by the boy - in spite of the girl urging him repeatedly to go all the way.

Here's an interesting point: in this scene I have referred to above the girl is described in the book as wearing a baggy old sweatshirt top, and old daggy sweatshirt bottoms, while in the movie the apparel is changed (very deliberately in my view) to a tight tshirt that reveals her tummy, and a pair of briefs/undies. Why the change, I asked myself? Answer: the movie makers are trying to elicit the maximum response from the audience, the maximum arousal of sexual feeling. I'm shaking my head here, thinking of the very young people who are being exposed to this and what effect it must be having upon them. Because no matter what the rating of the movie, no matter who it is aimed at, the truth is that many children of 10 and younger are being exposed to this story.

It is so easy to justify this sort of thing. The whole series isn't solely as described above, there is also a storyline which is exciting and makes you want to find out what is going to happen. I viewed the books very differently at first, so yes I suppose I was taken in along with the crowd. Now I find myself preferring to seek for the highest literature rather than the mediocre. There's so little time for reading, for any recreation really, I want to make sure I'm spending my time well.


Now as an aside...I finally finished Middlemarch! It's been a year I think, since I began. The relationship between Will Ladislaw and Dorothea Casaubon is one of the most beautiful I have ever read about, so honorable, sweet, pure, delightful, hopeless then hopeful, and so superbly described from both points of view by George Eliot.

The storm over the tv

There wasn't actually that much of a storm, just a few grumblings and thundery type rumblings and the threat of rain. Mr11 wrote a note back to the antenna asking it to please come back home, and that he promised not to watch too much tv, but to no avail!

What a feeling of freedom. I love it. No more having to be ready or we'll miss the beginning of a show, no more having to change the channel quickly but not quickly enough because the ads are indecent even with the volume down, no more hedonistic consumer fest paraded before our eyes constantly. What bliss to see the box in its box (wooden furniture piece with doors that close), and two young boys sitting in the lounge room reading books instead of vegging out in front of the box. Mr 10 is reading the Alex Rider series, and Mr 11-nearly-12 is a third of the way through The Return of The King.