One of the fun things about my new work (beyond the fact that everyone is fantastically crazy and today I twice interrupted a conversation a particular colleague was having with herself) – beyond that, one of the fun things is the set of kindles we loan out to the students. Each one is packed with dozens of books from all different genres and they’re apparently quite popular.
Since I’ve never used a kindle myself, I thought I’d better invite one home for the weekend so we could get to know each other a little better.
Alas, I have to say: I don’t think it’s going to work out. We gave it a good shot and we spent a lot of time together, but there was an unspoken realisation lingering behind our contact. This isn’t working. We’re not right for each other.
On the one hand, it’s amazing to be able to sit there with several million books (well… ninety or so) in your hand. On the other hand, it just doesn’t feel right. Whenever I imagined using a reader instead of an actual book (and while this may be more often than you think, it’s not that much more), I fancied I’d miss the feel of the book or the look of the words on the page. I thought it would be the tactile or the visual things that were lacking. I had no idea I’d actually miss the sound of reading.
Somehow, reading isn’t right without the rustle of paper, without that whisper of sound as you turn each page. And if you’re reading an old book, that movement will often summon up a breath of the book’s scent, too, which can be pleasant or otherwise, depending on the book’s history.
For me, a book is more than just words on a page or a screen – it’s the feel of the book, the texture of its pages, the weight of it in my hands. It’s the scent of the book and the sound of those pages as they are turned over… without this, it just doesn’t feel right to me.
So the kindle and I have gone our separate ways and I think we’ll both be happier for it. After all, it’s going to be spending its time with a whole bunch of people who’ll give it the affection it so desires, with its un-numbered pages and clicky little buttons. Meanwhile, I have a bunch of books I need to go and listen to.
You have reached the blog of Katiefoolery: a writer, a photographer and a long term procrasinator. In this blog, you can expect to find ramblings about all manner of subjects, usually accompanied by photographs.
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I raise my glass to this post. I still haven’t tried a kindle or any of its counterparts. While its buttons and compact electronic fascade are tempting, I’m sure I’ll come to the same conclusion about it that you have. What about those books whose binding is broken o pen to your very favorite spot? Kindle can’t do that. And no, kindle advocates, a “bookmark” is not the same.
I’m so tired of touch screens. It’s so nice to have contact with something tactile. I’m even ready to trade in my iPhone for something with more buttons. Why is everyone so eager to spend their time tapping a screen? If I ever do get a kindle, I want one of the old ones, with all the keyboard buttons. I’m just retro like that, I guess. In the meantime, I’ll stick to carting novels around in my bag like I always have.
(PS, is that a new bloggy wallpaper I spy? Well played–I like it.)
I read a rather fascinating article a little while ago about how unsatisfying touch screens actually are. We like to think we’re interacting with our phones or our apps, but we’re not, because there’s always a layer of glass between our fingertips and what we’re touching. They can be fun, though. I have a lot of fun with swype on my samsung phone – it’s just so amusing to create patterns that form words, or to wonder if my mad zigzagging between letters will be interpreted by the phone (it usually is, amazingly).
Kindle bookmarks are definitely not the same! I can’t point one out as being a gift from my mum or my friend, for example. Yes, there’s definitely more to a book than just the words it contains.
(It is indeed a new wallpaper and layout. I’m working on making it fantastic, but I’m currently being distracted by creating photobooks.)
Great post Katie and something I’ve been thinking a lot about myself.
I spend a fair bit of time people-watching and a lot of people walk around buried in the gadget in their fingers …it’s not as engaging as seeing someone with their head buried in a book – books which might strike up a conversation…
I mentioned this to a friend and she told me about how a week after she sat in a cafe reading a Marieke Hardy book, when she returned for a coffee the waitress brought her a magazine article that had an interview with Hardy saying, “I remember you were reading her book and thought you might be interested in this.”
long live books
That’s a fantastic story! I love it. I know I’ve certainly struck up conversations with people based on the books they were reading (and others have with me, as well). It’s a bit funny, actually – you’d think as readers we’d be cutting ourselves off from the people around us, but we’re actually making connections!
Long live books indeed.
What a great post. I never, ever thought about that. The sound of reading. Also, that title sounds like the title to a short story. I’m a big reader and people are always surprised that I haven’t hopped on the kindle bandwagon. I’ve not really seen the need. Yes, you can get a million (I always say million too!) books on one device but I don’t need to read a million at once.
I’d maybe get one if I was travelling, but even then, I love stuffing a book in my bag and pulling it out to read it in cool new places.
I love that world-wide, evolving library that exists in hotels and hostels and holiday houses. Finish a book off in country and exchange it for another as you move on. It’s fantastic! Although, in reality, I’m not sure I could bring myself to part with a book unless I didn’t actually like it.
Having lost a few books in my recent holiday to the demands of my suitcase, I kind of get why people like Kindles, but whenever I pick one up, it’s like … meh … I just don’t look at the words on the screen as i would in a book – plus, I actually like the double page spread – I can jump ahead a couple of paragraphs and see what’s coming.
The sound of books – I like the slap of slamming a finished book down and mentally punching the air because I’m FINISHED! The sense of accomplishment is great indeed.
The weirdest thing for me was the lack of page numbers. Maybe there’s a setting to turn them on or something, but I couldn’t be bothered looking. I want page numbers! I don’t want to know I’ve read 17% of the book; I want to know I’m on page seventy-nine!
“Meh” is very much the word. I don’t love the kindle, but neither do I hate it. It just exists.
Well spoken!
I could not have put it better myself and the experience of reading is so much greater with a traditional book. For some reason, I can’t see myself weeping over an emotional ending in a kindle. I don’t want the influence of technical gadgets when I read a book – I want the smell of old paper and the familiar smell of library!
Yes, you don’t have a nice comforting book to hide behind when you get to a sad bit! And while it’s lovely to be able to cart around hundreds of books with little effort, the flip side is that you can’t really display them anywhere. Right now, I can cast my gaze over a giant bookshelf, crammed full of books… and that seems much more rewarding than a neat little kindle sitting unassumingly on a desk.
Indeed. I’m reminded of something a professor of mine in library school said a few years ago: “I just can’t see myself curling up into a nice warm bath with an eBook.”
Maybe this is a fad that will die down in time. (Only to be replaced by something more annoying.) Last decade, it was everyone walking around with their iPods and earbuds jammed in their ears while the rest of us were greeted with what sounded like a mosquito mariachi band as they walked by. But at least they were still looking at the world around them, if not listening to it. Nowadays, everyone is a head bowed, bent-elbowed phone-poker. I’ve even seen a coworker of mine read books on her iPhone during her lunch break, and it just looks, well, lame.
Reading books on an iPhone would drive me crazy! I wasn’t even a fan of reading particularly long emails on it, let alone a book.
eBooks certainly don’t lend themselves to situations in which books thrive, do they? I certainly couldn’t imagine taking the kindle to bed, for example. There is no way in which that would be comfortable or at all cosy.
It’s interesting that everyone who has commented agrees with you (which I do, too, by the way!) when four of my closest friends adore reading on their Kindle or their iPad, including two hard-core book lovers and ex-Kindle skeptics. I have never personally tried to read on one but given how many hours I spend staring at a computer screen at work and how much that hurts my eyes, I really don’t think I need to do it in my leisure time, too. Plus I love the tactile aspect of a real book – even having to shift the way you hold it when your arm goes numb (particularly when lying down), or figure out how to turn the page when you don’t want to use the other hand (generally involves my chin or bottom lip), or finding new and inventive ways to keep the book open while you’re doing something with two hands like eating (usually a coffee cup or the rim of a plate, and a mobile phone). And don’t get me started on how good libraries smell…
Two of my friends read most of their books on their iPads (and whenever we go on holiday, they swap iPads and read each other’s stuff – they have a good system going there). They love them but I don’t think I’ll be joining them any time soon, if my recent experience is anything to go by.
I love that challenge of finding the best spot for reading in bed. For some reason, completely illogical things suddenly seem like the best idea to me (what if I rest the book upside down on my pillow and tilt my head backwards?) and it’s certainly not always the most practical of places to read, but it’s definitely the cosiest.