In a few weeks I'm off to America for two months to work as a counsellor at a summer school. After that I'm spending two weeks travelling. People keep telling me "you need a Kindle", "it's good for travelling", "it's cheap to get books". I appreciate this. I appreciate where they're coming from, I get their arguments but my answer is...no. I will not get a Kindle no matter how grand it is or how easy it is to carry. If I had a Kindle and I look to my shelf what would I see? A skinny black thing sitting there, not a dozen spines wanting me to pick them up.
My friend Elly told me a really great story the other day and I hope she won't mind me sharing it. She told me the story about her grandfather who was one of those men that loved having his things around him - just like me and her, in fact. His wife told him he had too many books and not enough room so, to keep them, he started stacking them up the stairs, each step you took would be a new collection of books. Not only is this a lovely image but it shows what books are about. Susan Hill reiterated the point in her book Howard's End is on the Landing "books make a home" and they most definitely do. What pains me about living in a student house is that all my books aren't with me. When I go home to my parents I justify why each book should come with me but know I have no space for them.
Books don't just make a home, they hold memories. When I pick up The Suicide Club and flick through it I remember when I went through my XBOX phase and I was sitting on COD and I had people screaming at me down the microphone why I wasn't moving, why I kept dying, I was, of course, sitting there reading, too engrossed in the pages. I know that when I finished Hero I was sitting on the sofa in my attic when it rained all day. When I pick up my copy of Harry Potter I see the wrinkled, orange pages from when my mother spilled orange juice all over it or The Witches from when I left it outside in the rain.
What would my Kindle do? Well it would break in the rain, it wouldn't wrinkle and it wouldn't throw me back to where I was. The Kindle is not my memory lane, it will not make my house a home, it's a silly threat. Will book shops shut because of the Kindle? No. Is the Kindle the end of us? No. Because book lovers love books, not just the idea of reading. Books will always be on the staircase.
Firstly, you're missing the iPad and iBook store. On that device authors are redefining what a book is. Authors are no longer chained to only using words, if they want they can add a video clip or interactive animation. If you were to write an autobiography you could now add old video clips from the past as opposed to just photographs. Stephen Fry's latest autobiography has an 'enhanced version that includes several clips.
ReplyDeleteiBooks and kindle books are searchable. This means you can search for any phrase or word, and it will show you every page they show up. If you want to find that awesome quote or passage all you need to do is type a few words in and it will bring you straight to it.
Going back to 'enhanced books', this is an incredible opportunity for children's books. I've seen several books on the iPad have the text in the middle and animations of things going on in the background (like vines or lightening). I've also seen the toy story book for iPad which includes several activities that require the childs interaction - say a colour in activity or a game. This could also be applied to adults book where, for example, if Dan Brown was writing the da vinci code now he could have had an interactive activity section where you can try and crack the code of the big vault. This doesn't impose anything on the writing or take anything away from the imagination of the reader, it adds to it in a simple way. This can't be done on a standard kindle, but has been done on an iPad and can be done on a kindle fire.
Another point would be that you aren't cutting down trees when you read on a kindle/iPad. The amount of trees that could be saved by making books digital would be tremendous, and i don't think some sentimental nonsense could ever overthrow that argument - as we kind of need trees on the planet.
The sentimental argument may be relevant to the kindle, however when regarding iBooks on the iPad i would disagree that a digital book can't give sentimental value. Apple have obviously worked hard making the page turns look incredibly realistic - as you slide your finger across the screen the page bends just as you would expect a normal page to. Also, on the iPad your collection of books is displayed on a book shelf, as opposed to just the title in a list on the kindle. It therefore truly feels as though you have that book in your collection, and is more than just a load of binary numbers in a computer.
My last point is that for a dyslexic, the kindle and iPad is a dream. You can actually touch the words on the page, and they will tell you their definition in an instant. You can google things instantly which tell you what they are - even show you a picture of it. You can also highlight sections on the iPad in various colours which then automatically organise themselves in the notes section so you can view and organise your highlights with unbelievable ease.
What dedication you have made to replying to my opinionated post. Although I agree that the Kindle is a good way for children to understand words I do believe there is such a thing called a dictionary that is still around. Old school is indeed the way forward. I get where you come from but can a Kindle make a house a home? How many do we have to buy to put them on our shelves? It may give you a digital book shelf but it's not a real one. A Kindle doesn't give that feeling. You can't pick up the individual book, it's not as personal, they're files on a screen. There's no sentiment. Not a fan.
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