Friday, September 23, 2011

dickens on a kindle

My nephew Jeff generously sent me an Amazon Kindle in April.  The spring and early summer were kind of rough for me and I wasn't doing much reading at all so it's just recently that I've learned how to use and manage it for reading a book.  So many people that I know that are the biggest book readers have switched from paper to electronics -- to the Kindle, the iPad, the Nook -- and these are people whose opinion I value.

But I just don't know if, for me, a book on a Kindle is as satisfying as a traditional book.

I'm trying my first book -- A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens (partly because it was a free download and partly because it's a book I've always thought I should read) -- and it's fine, I guess.  But yesterday on the plane I had a back-up real live book -- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Klahed Hosseini-- which I borrowed from the condo library just in case I overdosed on the Kindle and also because electronics need to be shut off and stowed during take-off and landing.

I just don't know.  I think I can see it as an occasional gadget for reading a book (or, more likely, downloading newspapers or magazines) and not a replacement for what I'm used to.

Maybe I just don't see the point.

5 comments:

Jon said...

I would think it would be bad for your eyes too, just like staring at a computer screen is. All those pixels make your eyes focus and refocus constantly; at least that's what I've heard. Nonetheless, if someone gives you a gift, it's not nice to speak disparagingly of it on your blog. :-)

Howard said...

@Jon -- I'm very glad he sent it, and I will use it now and then.. It's just a different experience!

Lee said...

As I've told you, I love to curl up with my Nook. Nothing like moving hardly a muscle to turn a page.

Howard said...

@Lee -- There are circumstances where it can be very cool... I just can't see it as a permanent replacement. But I've been known to change my mind before.

revdoc1 said...

I need to hold it and smell it and make notes in the margins... I have over 4,000 real books. Just say no to the cold, hard impersonal eReader! How does one snuggle down into the down with a Kindle or Nook? Give me pages that speak my language.