As an author, I hesitate to tell anyone that I own a Kindle, the electronic device from amazon.com. Blogging about it, especially on a site where authors, booksellers and readers abound, makes me more than a bit nervous. I hate to open up a Pandora’s box of controversy here, but then again, isn’t making the reader feel something – even it it’s rage – the mark of a good blog post? So, deep breath, here goes…
First, let me explain: I got my Kindle as a gift from my husband and three sons. In a way, that was good, because although I’d secretly coveted the Kindle, I never would have bought one on my own. I’d heard more than one bookseller voice their passionate disdain for the Kindle. Authors need booksellers. They especially need booksellers that like them. What would they think if they learned that I was a closet Kindler?
I want to feel good about having a device that lets me download books, magazines, newspapers, and yes, even blogs, in less than a minute’s time, anywhere I can get a wireless connection. It’s a word junkie’s dream, to get a reading fix at any time of the day or night.
But instead, I feel guilty. I wondered if other authors who own Kindles have similar struggles. I did an Internet search, and came across some well-known authors who had nothing but good things to say about their Kindles. I decided that if the likes of Toni Morrison, Neil Gaiman, and David Sedaris, have publicly declared their love for Kindle, a less-than-famous author like myself should feel no shame.
In my Internet surf, I did come across a list of “10 Things to Hate About the Kindle.” The writer of this post came up with nine reasons of his own, leaving the tenth for the reader to add his or her personal rant.
Some of the items on this list do have some validity, such as the fact that the Kindle has a battery that has to be charged. Books have no batteries and thus will never leave you hanging when the juice runs out.
Also, if you have a bookcase to fill, you’ll have a hard time doing so if you buy a Kindle, since the device holds about 1,500 full-length books within its little electronic book “cover.”
The writer of the “10 Things to Hate” bemoans the fact that the Kindle makes his eclectic collection of bookmarks obsolete. It’s true; traditional bookmarks can’t be used with a Kindle. But the Kindle has a built-in bookmark. In fact, you can even “turn down” the corner of a page, just like in a real book, and you can turn the pages – both forward and backward, with the push of a button. And if you come across a word you’re not familiar with, you just highlight it to get the definition.
No, you won’t, as the Kindle “hater” wrote, attract the attention of a good-looking stranger who has spotted the cover of the book you’re reading. However, you’re just as likely to catch the eye of a good-looking stranger who is curious about your Kindle. People who carry novels around aren’t a novelty. People with Kindles, for now, anyway, are novel. Think of reading a Kindle in public as the equivalent of walking a cute puppy.
Okay, so I’m getting more comfortable with ”coming out” about my relationship with a Kindle. It’s not the same as holding a regular book in my hands, riffling through the pages and inhaling that intoxicating new-book smell. It never will be the same. I’m okay with that. Having a Kindle means I actually sit down and read one book at a time, versus cherry-picking through the pile of books gathering dust next to my bed. And when I travel, instead of loading down my backpack with more books than the average reader could read in a month, let alone a weekend, I can pack all I need to read in 13 ounces of electronic reading device.
I’ve found that when I invest my hard-earned money downloading a book for my Kindle, I’m much more selective. Which means I’m much more likely to finish that book before buying another.
I’ll never give up going to bookstores or buying books and magazines that aren’t available on the Kindle versions. But I see no reason why traditional books and techno books can’t sit side-by-side on my nightstand. The way I look at it, I’ll still have plenty of room for my coffee cup and reading glasses.
Well, I suppose that the answering line for your closing sentiments is that the bookstores may have to give up on you. At least, their numbers will certainly winnow down. Yeah, I’m a traditionalist who loves all the sensory rush that comes with being in the company of actual books, each with an actual palpable identity and personality. Associations. Books are themselves bookmarks of where and when and how we met their stories. But then, that’s my orientation for when and where I grew up, as it is for most of us: the time of bound books.
That said, I don’t believe it will be the same for future generations. They will think of us mostly as sentimental and quaint. It’s a done deal, and convenience and maybe cost trump. Some formal bookstores will probably survive along with a scaled down publishing industry. Novels in tangible form will be the novelty, almost an indulgent way to accessorize your lifestyle — like wearing granny glasses or designer clothes. Perhaps availability won’t suffer too much and the difference will be much like the one today between buying a paperback and a hardcover. Status. Thanks for your TLC of the subject, Jeanie.
– Sully
I find it to be a wholly different thing. If and when I take the plunge and get a kindle, it will only be (I think) for certain content. I already often listen to the audiobook, or check out bits and pieces of a work on line before I actually take the plunge to buy it – I think where I personally might be headed is toward buying hard copies of books I want to be able to revisit, pass on, and share…
Currently I’m an audiobook freak, and that is where a large part of my reading comes from…the Kindle, as in reading online, gives me the chance to read “between the times” of the day better than a book…
Good essay, and I don’t hate you for your kindle…I just wish my books were available on it.
DNW
I won’t lie, this post makes me sad. It does bother me that someone who writes and reads so much would help slow the industry that’s been there for her.
It’s honestly 50/50 for me– mock me if you must, but my reading is 50% story and 50% curling up in bed with the book, smelling the pages, and I have this delicious habit of curling the pages with my fingers, feeling the parchment as I read.
It’s a very sensory experience for me. I hope there are lots out there like me, who love a full bookcase and the feel of the cover, the paper beneath their hands.
Laura,
I think we’re mostly all on the same page. I will always love real books, and prefer my work to come out in a real book. How frightening that the only record of months of labor might be in a file that someone eventually just deletes as obsolete, and it’s gone…
Books have their own sort of magic.
DNW
OK… I know that this is a horrible thing to say, but…
I’ve actually put books (that I really wanted to read) back because they were done in that scrunchy little font. If I actually purchase one it becomes the one in the pile that I almost always pass over when I’m picking out a new book to start.
I know from conversations with family and friends that I’m not the only person who does this.
Once Kindle becomes more mainstream and the book selection is limitless… readers will be able to buy some form of a novel that they might have put back for something that the writer had no control over.
I can’t read books on the train in either direction of my commute. I almost never get a seat, and I’m just too uncoordinated to turn pages with one hand (while holding a wrist-loop with the other) without dropping the book. I know because I’ve tried. E-readers allow me to read on the train where I otherwise would have just stared off into space with music on the MP3 player. They do not replace the paper books I read at home at all.
Are we in the industry of creating bundles of bound paper with black squiggles on the insides, or the industry of creating stories to share with readers–by whatever means?
[...] Don’t Hate Me Because I Have a Kindle, Jeanie Ransom explains why owning a Kindle makes her feel guilty and why she [...]