out of kindling

So at the beginning of May my husband "surprised" me with the Kindle 2 I had been dropping hints about for weeks. Not really hints. More like extensive marketing pitches. I was so excited to see the box in the mail. Pulling off each successive layer of fancy packaging was like unwrapping a delicious snack.

And there it was! Time to download one of the books on my reading list.... Michael Ondaatje's Coming Into Slaughter? ...Nope. Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano? Try again. Finally I was somehow able to find a free (and ONLY a free) version of José Saramago's Blindness.

Finally! I could begin the test drive. I could change the text size! Highlight sections and store them all in one place! Look up any unknown words on the spot while I read! Glorious!!!!

There was the slight problem of highlighting on an "unsupported" document. I had to call Amazon's support because the highlighting feature wouldn't always work, and at least once actually crashed the device entirely. Apparently if you read anything not bought directly on Amazon's site, they won't support it. Even if it is something as seemingly innocuous as a .txt document. If disappointing, it makes sense--why try to fix problems when you can't isolate all of the parameters?

But it turned out there was a bigger problem. The reading experience. I'd kept telling anyone who would listen how Kindle would revolutionize the publishing industry, how much easier it would be to read on a Kindle than via a hardback format, etc. But now that I was actually reading a book on it, I wasn't so sure. Saramago's Nobel Prize-winning novel was highly recommended by a good friend and fellow VCFA'er. But it just wasn't doing anything for me. Which seemed strange, because I liked the premise and I'd been highlighting a lot of great insights.

Finally after being stalled on the highlighting function for maybe the twentieth time, I decided to buy a paperback version of the book. And what amazed me was how it suddenly came alive!!! I actually thought the novel was better, MUCH better, once I was able to read it in paperback format. I'm still at a loss for words as to why. It's an ineffable and highly personal observation. But it's the truth.

I also realized how stressed out reading on the Kindle had been. I didn't want to be thinking about crashing or loading or any of the other technological issues that can arise. I wanted and still do want to feel like I can read when my plane lifts off, or in the bathtub, or at any moment. Paperbacks will never, ever, ever freeze up on you.

So, for now, so much for saving trees and promoting a more egalitarian publishing industry. I said goodbye to my electronic friend and am settling back into the joy that is a good paperback.