Well, I guess this isn't really an "either/or" situation as the title suggests. I been thinking about books, and the piles of them I have scattered throughout my house. I think about how maybe I should buy a Kindle or some other type of E-book and download what I want to read. Or maybe find more books available on-line and read them on my laptop. It would certainly cause less clutter in my life if I did.
Then, tonight I was watching old episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" on Hulu, (don't laugh, I'm a Whedonholic), and there was a discussion at the end of the episode between the librarian Giles (played perfectly by Anthony Head) and a computer lab teacher, explaining why he preferred books over technology.
I agree with this on a purely emotional level. Although it seems my lifestyle depends heavily on computers as a social network, as a source of news, or just to find those silly little tidbits such as pictures of cats with oddly typed "capshuns", for me there is nothing like holding a book, running a hand over the cover, and if it is an older book, taking a deep whiff of the pages, wishing that the papery smell could be captured in a bottle, for I would wear it as perfume. Well, not the ones that have succumbed to mold and mildew, of course.
As lost as I would be without my computer, how less my life would be if I could no longer become lost in a book...lost in something I can carry with me where ever I go. Something as simple as words on a page. Touched by my hand. Written by the hand of another.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Monday, August 18, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Not easy "sitting by the pool" reading, but then I don't have a pool...
I read. A lot. I went through a "bodice ripper" stage when I was younger, where I would read historical romance novels (Moi? Non!). The ones I would read would never have a cover depicting Fabio and some buxom blond with ripped bodice. I had higher tastes. No Harlequin Romances for me.
Then, I changed gears and dove into crime novels and psychological thrillers. Usually Catherine Coutier (who started off writing historical romance) and Jonothan Kellerman. But what they all had in common was typical good guys, bad guys, the hero saved the day, everyone who deserved to be happy in the end, was. Oh, and some damsel got her bodice ripped.
Other words, very predictable story lines.
My mom was an avid reader, too, and since her passing, I have been acquiring her stacks of books. So, I am faced with books that I would have not normally picked out for myself, siting in boxes. Okay, I could send them off to the SA, or Goodwill, but, I decided to read one that just happened to be sitting on top of the pile.
It was a book written in first person, a story of a young man forced into responsibility for his 3 yonuger sisters after the murder of his father at the hands of his mother. The father was abusive towards his children, in turn, the son now fights his own abusive thoughts towards women, and towards some of his sisters. The reader hear his fleeting thoughts of wanting to grab a girl he takes on on a date by the back of her head and slamming her face against a framed picture she had found of his parents on their wedding day. He doesn't act upon his impulses. But they are still there, and he reports them as matter of fact.
The main character of the story, who is telling his story is flawed compared to main characters I have read in the past. But the author has written his plight in a way where the reader could possibly feel sympathy for him, even as we are shocked by his behavior.
The ending doesn't get wrapped up in a nice, neat little package. In fact, the ending made me feel kind of empty, and I figured out why. I was so used to reading books that told me how to feel. The story wasn't predictable. The story wasn't passive for the reader, meaning, it made me question why I felt sympathy for someone who had thoughts of seriously injuring women. I had to come up with my own conclusion on the the main character. Was he evil with his thoughts of bashing someone up the head? Was it okay for him to feel this way becasue of what he witnessed as a child?
If anyone is interested, the book is Back Roads, written by Tawni O'Dell. And, yes, I would recommend it.
Then, I changed gears and dove into crime novels and psychological thrillers. Usually Catherine Coutier (who started off writing historical romance) and Jonothan Kellerman. But what they all had in common was typical good guys, bad guys, the hero saved the day, everyone who deserved to be happy in the end, was. Oh, and some damsel got her bodice ripped.
Other words, very predictable story lines.
My mom was an avid reader, too, and since her passing, I have been acquiring her stacks of books. So, I am faced with books that I would have not normally picked out for myself, siting in boxes. Okay, I could send them off to the SA, or Goodwill, but, I decided to read one that just happened to be sitting on top of the pile.
It was a book written in first person, a story of a young man forced into responsibility for his 3 yonuger sisters after the murder of his father at the hands of his mother. The father was abusive towards his children, in turn, the son now fights his own abusive thoughts towards women, and towards some of his sisters. The reader hear his fleeting thoughts of wanting to grab a girl he takes on on a date by the back of her head and slamming her face against a framed picture she had found of his parents on their wedding day. He doesn't act upon his impulses. But they are still there, and he reports them as matter of fact.
The main character of the story, who is telling his story is flawed compared to main characters I have read in the past. But the author has written his plight in a way where the reader could possibly feel sympathy for him, even as we are shocked by his behavior.
The ending doesn't get wrapped up in a nice, neat little package. In fact, the ending made me feel kind of empty, and I figured out why. I was so used to reading books that told me how to feel. The story wasn't predictable. The story wasn't passive for the reader, meaning, it made me question why I felt sympathy for someone who had thoughts of seriously injuring women. I had to come up with my own conclusion on the the main character. Was he evil with his thoughts of bashing someone up the head? Was it okay for him to feel this way becasue of what he witnessed as a child?
If anyone is interested, the book is Back Roads, written by Tawni O'Dell. And, yes, I would recommend it.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Keeping up, or trying to.
I see where Wally World will be dropping the HD-DVD format of players and discs from it's stores and selling exclusively Blu-Ray players.
I think I hear the fat lady warming up her vocal cords. No, it's not me, I wouldn't want to assault you with my singing.
Luckily, I am not that much of a "phile" where I have to run out and buy the newest technology so I can have the ultimate veiwing-audio-computer-whatever experience. Hell, I was on dial-up until about 6 months ago. So, that being the case, I'm not stuck with an HD-DVD player that will probably be going the way of the do-do soon, if I were to assume that WM is the deciding factor of what format is going to win out in the end. But, now I'm wondering to myself every time I buy a DVD, "should I just wait til the Blu-Ray version comes out?"
I'm old enough to remember saving my allowance so I could go down to the corner appliance store (if that in itself doesn't age me, "corner appliance store") where the owner stocked 45s and LPs in the back. The smell of vinyl as I pulled the album out of it's sleeve. Pouring over the lyrics printed on the back. Drooling over Barry....whoa, that's for another post, and hey, I was young...anyway...and it was the 70's...and I was a dork...Then 8-tracks were the thing, then cassettes, then CDs. As one format took over, older formats collected dust as the devices needed to play such formats became oddities found only in thrift shops.
I remember the story my daughter's music teacher told when my youngest was in grade school...first day of class, she takes an LP and places it on the turntable. "Mrs. A, what is that?" These kids had never seen an LP before. My youngest had seen LPs before. Her uncle has at least 6,000 of them. A blind person needs a hobby, afrter all.
So, now I'm glancing over at my bookcase and all the DVDs lined up on the shelves. I actually have videos. More or less obsolete. Like the case of my 8-tracks in the basement (why do I still have them, it's not like they'll make a comeback, or anything).
And, then there are my books. The one medium that through my life has not become obsolete, although the hardware needed to access them has needed upgrades through the years, ie, bifocals.
I enjoy a good movie, I like being able to watch a whole television series without commercials (right now, I'm catching up on "Torchwood" from the fine folks at BBC), but they will never totally replace a book. Especially a good book, one that can make a movie in my head. Nothing to plug in, no technology that will eventually fall into obsolesnce...at least the medium. The "player"...I hope it keeps running glitch-free for many years to come.
I think I hear the fat lady warming up her vocal cords. No, it's not me, I wouldn't want to assault you with my singing.
Luckily, I am not that much of a "phile" where I have to run out and buy the newest technology so I can have the ultimate veiwing-audio-computer-whatever experience. Hell, I was on dial-up until about 6 months ago. So, that being the case, I'm not stuck with an HD-DVD player that will probably be going the way of the do-do soon, if I were to assume that WM is the deciding factor of what format is going to win out in the end. But, now I'm wondering to myself every time I buy a DVD, "should I just wait til the Blu-Ray version comes out?"
I'm old enough to remember saving my allowance so I could go down to the corner appliance store (if that in itself doesn't age me, "corner appliance store") where the owner stocked 45s and LPs in the back. The smell of vinyl as I pulled the album out of it's sleeve. Pouring over the lyrics printed on the back. Drooling over Barry....whoa, that's for another post, and hey, I was young...anyway...and it was the 70's...and I was a dork...Then 8-tracks were the thing, then cassettes, then CDs. As one format took over, older formats collected dust as the devices needed to play such formats became oddities found only in thrift shops.
I remember the story my daughter's music teacher told when my youngest was in grade school...first day of class, she takes an LP and places it on the turntable. "Mrs. A, what is that?" These kids had never seen an LP before. My youngest had seen LPs before. Her uncle has at least 6,000 of them. A blind person needs a hobby, afrter all.
So, now I'm glancing over at my bookcase and all the DVDs lined up on the shelves. I actually have videos. More or less obsolete. Like the case of my 8-tracks in the basement (why do I still have them, it's not like they'll make a comeback, or anything).
And, then there are my books. The one medium that through my life has not become obsolete, although the hardware needed to access them has needed upgrades through the years, ie, bifocals.
I enjoy a good movie, I like being able to watch a whole television series without commercials (right now, I'm catching up on "Torchwood" from the fine folks at BBC), but they will never totally replace a book. Especially a good book, one that can make a movie in my head. Nothing to plug in, no technology that will eventually fall into obsolesnce...at least the medium. The "player"...I hope it keeps running glitch-free for many years to come.
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