tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285367827446194139.post4300690927391284513..comments2024-02-23T03:58:51.747+00:00Comments on Theaker's Quarterly Fiction: Why aren't I reading my print books any more?Stephen Theakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11394493689032839157noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285367827446194139.post-90222536858200463992010-10-20T21:41:33.083+01:002010-10-20T21:41:33.083+01:00"I think the rate at which they are being shi..."I think the rate at which they are being shipped off to charity shops is only going to increase"<br /><br />"charity shops" plural? I'm hurt!John Greenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06822288915243293561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285367827446194139.post-37692671574547550182010-10-18T20:17:19.544+01:002010-10-18T20:17:19.544+01:00Oh I didn't think you were contemptuous, just ...Oh I didn't think you were contemptuous, just more ready to embrace the technology than I was. As for your wife, I had the same thing - I read in bed and I also read during my lunch break, but found that Under The Dome wouldn't fit in my briefcase!<br /><br />At the end of the day, your last 2 paragraphs are spot on - a novel is a collection of words, that's the meat of it, whether it's a book or a PDF is effectively meaningless.<br /><br />Look at Kerouac - he wrote on a roll of newsprint. How difficult would that have been to lug to and from work in a briefcase?Mark Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12103997496549941279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285367827446194139.post-39957880989414217152010-10-18T17:23:24.292+01:002010-10-18T17:23:24.292+01:00I think a lot of it comes down to how and when you...I think a lot of it comes down to how and when you read. I've always done most of my reading at night, in bed, on my side – quite an awkward position to read a paper book in. Or when I'm out and about, on buses, trains, etc, where I've constantly had to leave books behind because they were too heavy to lug around with me.<br /><br />For example, my wife's reading Under the Dome on her new Kindle - the hardback had gone unread because it was just too heavy for her to carry to and from work.<br /><br />It's weird for me to be accused of being contemptuous of printed books. I wouldn't have collected three or four thousand of the things if I didn't love them. I've just found something that - for me - makes reading much more pleasant.<br /><br />Having said that, I strongly disagree with people who argue a novel has no value unless it's been printed out. It's not people who sniff their books that bug me; it's people who think a book that doesn't smell is automatically inferior!<br /><br />For me, the novel itself has the same artistic value whether you read the pdf, or send the pdf to the printers to be printed out. If the printed book is a work of art in itself, smashing, but that won't affect the quality of the prose.Stephen Theakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11394493689032839157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285367827446194139.post-14649649547510426212010-10-18T16:01:23.559+01:002010-10-18T16:01:23.559+01:00I too have many more books on my shelves than I...I too have many more books on my shelves than I'll probably ever read, though I'm making a concerted effort to get through them (kiboshing myself at every step by buying more books). But I like paperbacks (and I am, on occasion, a booksniffer), I like the feel and the weight and the tactile nature. A good friend of mine is very gadget-y, he's had a Palm for years and often downloaded my books to read on it so that he could critique me as he was waiting to pick up his daughters from various social events.<br /><br />At the moment, it's choice - which would you rather do? I'll go with the books for the moment but I'm sure that the day will come when I go electronic.<br /><br />One other thing though - I like my little library, those four bookshelves filled with titles and promise. My wife, however, would probably prefer that they were all held on one device - at least she'd get the room back then!Mark Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12103997496549941279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285367827446194139.post-36273980416781870652010-10-18T14:48:17.059+01:002010-10-18T14:48:17.059+01:00This article's provoked a rebuttal by Quentin ...This article's provoked a rebuttal by Quentin S. Crisp, no less! Check it out here: http://my.opera.com/quentinscrisp/blog/show.dml/19446612.<br /><br />The only problem with Quentin's argument is that I'm analysing here something that has *already* happened. Of my thousand unread paper books, I only read one in 2009-2010. If I'm wrong about the reasons for that, what were the real reasons..?Stephen Theakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11394493689032839157noreply@blogger.com