A Tablet for Christmas…

Happy New Year!

After a lovely Christmas break, it’s now back to the reality of uni, work and eating only three meals a day. But stepping into 2013 I feel a different person… I am now the owner of a very beautiful Nexus 7 and can start a real comparison of print vs. digital.

The Nexus 7

Nexus is the Google tablet and is, as far as my non-technological eyes can tell, very similar to an iPad. I’ve downloaded all sorts of apps (including Star Wars Angry Birds!!) and am enjoying everything on the internet being available at the touch of the screen. It’s clearly a useful device, with my entire life stored in calendar events and linked with emails, and it is a very convenient way of transporting a lot of books.

But what about the reading experience…? What does it matter if I can take 50 books on holiday with me, if I won’t get the same satisfaction out of reading them? I was pleased to realise that the Google Play books actually do have the effect of turning a page, unlike the Amazon Kindle books in which pages just slide across in a mechanical fashion. I’ll go on to explore these issues over the next few months, but as usual, feel free to object and comment… there’s definitely a debate to be had!

First Thoughts on Reading

My first reading experience on the Nexus was a free short story by Sophie Kinsella, an author I used to absolutely love during the Shopaholic days. The story Six Geese A-Laying was mildly entertaining and filled a quiet half hour over the holidays, but wasn’t exactly a thrilling read. The marketing strategy, therefore, of including the opening chapter of her February 2013 release in this free eBook was clever, but ineffective… If I’m honest I didn’t even read it! The short story wasn’t actually good enough to persuade me to read the free extract, let alone to buy Kinsella’s new book. Now, I remember the cheesy, chick-lit nature of her earlier novels, but I’m sure the quality was considerably better than the rushed together, disappointing Six Geese A-Laying. This raises one of my biggest worries with e-publishing – is quality sometimes overlooked?

Obviously, this was a marketing tool for Transworld Publishers and could only be given the amount of time or money available within their marketing budget. But promoted as a free Christmas gift for Sophie Kinsella fans, it was kind of like expecting a lovely new scarf and gloves set, and instead getting a pair of socks. Maybe I’m being spoilt – why should I expect quality if I’ve not even paid for it? Everything free on the internet can hardly be called ‘quality’, and we have no issue with browsing through that. Or maybe I’m being snobbish, because I’d actually rather not think of books in association with the free stuff the internet has to offer. Books are better than that.

To flip this argument on its head, if I was given a free promotional short story in print format, I’d probably expect the actually physical quality to be poor and I don’t think this would bother me... It’s free after all! The fact is that with e-reading, all you have are the words on the screen and so, if anything, the quality of that content needs to be better. Otherwise, books really will get mixed up with the rest of the internet’s junk.

 

Verdict

 

I have to admit, I found the reading experience better than expected… I set the appearance of the pages and font to as close to a book as I could, and got lost in the words almost as much as I would in a print book. It is also ridiculously easy to use, so I didn’t feel like I had to plough through technology to get to the book. Having said that, reading in my favourite spot in the conservatory was a no-go because of lighting issues, and it really bugged me that I couldn’t just flick through to see where the chapter ends. The other thing I’ve already noticed myself doing (subconsciously I think) is only buying chick-lit or crime type fiction on the Nexus, things that I really enjoy for simple entertainment value, but will probably forget in the weeks after reading. If it is a good book, I would still buy it in print.

 

Animal's People by Indra Sinha

Best place to start...

For my first blog I thought I’d start with my all time favourite book, Animal’s People, an amazing fiction story by Indra Sinha that captures the devastating repercussions of a true event in India. The story is told by Animal, one of the most engaging, comical and conflicting characters that I have ever encountered in a book, and one that has also stuck with me since.

I was introduced to Animal’s People in my final year at Birmingham as one of the texts on a module about difference and normalcy. I then chose to write about the book in my coursework, and have recommended it to anyone and everyone, not just as a book for studying, but as a great book to read. I have put links to various blogs about the book so that you can read more about it, because I cannot do it justice on here as well as write about the reading experience.

The Print/Digital Experience

Apart from this being my favourite book, I also chose to write about it because Sinha has created some digital additions that can be read alongside the novel (which is incidentally only available in print form, published by Pocket Books in 2008). The websites http://www.khaufpur.com (not currently workingL) and http://khaufpur.wordpress.com/about/ were created by Sinha as tourist information and local newspaper sites about the fictional city that Animal lives in. There are interviews with Sinha as though he was the journalist who spoke to Animal, interviews and comments from Animal himself, and a variety of articles that set the scene of the novel. These continue the perception that Khaufpur is a real place and that Animal is a real person, and consequently draw attention to the fact that the issues raised in the book are real. So whilst I wouldn’t want to read the book from a screen, these digital extras do add a great deal to the experience.

One of Sinha’s great achievements in Animal’s People is the contradiction between fiction and fact; it is both a good read, and also an unsettling representation of a real city that needs to be noticed. Reading the book page by page as though it were any other fictional story actually adds to this understanding, because we are taking enjoyment and entertainment out of what is essentially other people’s suffering. But should we feel bad? Should we pity these poverty stricken, physically impaired characters? Should we admire them in a patronising ‘aren’t they good for making the most of what they have’ kind of way? Personally, I don’t think Sinha intends us to feel any of this. In Animal’s words, the book isn’t written so that ‘strangers in far off countries can marvel there’s so much pain in the world’, but to raise awareness so that we actively think about the issues. I guess what I’m trying to say is that reading this story as though it is a storybook is key to really getting it.

The novel starts with an editor’s note, which explains that Animal’s words were recorded in Hindu and then translated to English, and there is also a glossary at the back of the book which gives meanings for the Hindi, slang and Khaufpuri words that he uses. These create a contradiction between its presentation of Animal’s exact words, and its own ‘bookiness’. Could these extras be appreciated in eBook form? I personally enjoyed flicking to the back of the book to check the meaning for words as I was reading, something which cannot quite have the same effect on a tablet.

On the other hand, I became so drawn into the story that I felt the communication was two-way; I was an active listener for Animal as he told his story. In this sense, perhaps reading from a screen would make sense as we communicate much more through emails, social media, web calls etc than we do through written letters, and the digital means are much more interactive. This leads on to my only other argument for having this particular book available as an eBook; the issues raised do need to be talked about, and the easiest and most interactive way of doing this is through comments online. But, I guess, this is why Sinha set up a website…  

The Verdict

For me, this book is something I want to keep and cherish. It is not a throw away fiction story just to pass the time (not a criticism, I love an easy read!), because the story and its characters have stayed with me. I loved the print reading experience, though I also think the digital extras added a lot to the meaning. But what it comes down to, in my opinion, is that I definitely want this book on my bookshelf and not because it is particularly pretty or a classic, but because it is good.

Hi guys!!

Just a little bit about me to start with… blogs about reading to come very soon!!

I’ve recently graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in English with Creative Writing, and started an MA in publishing last week at UCL. I’m aiming to go into a career in the business side of publishing as I have also worked for several years in retail and love the sales environment. I will admit that my knowledge is still fairly raw, but I don’t think many people outside of the industry really get publishing; it is the mysterious middleman between author and reader... and I can't wait to study and get involved in it! Though, whilst starting the MA course inspired me to start blogging, the topic of my blog is actually not about publishing… but about reading.

As the title suggests, I love losing myself in the pages of a book and everything that goes along with the traditional reading experience. I therefore find this transition to digital particularly interesting (and perhaps also a bit scary!)… Whilst I appreciate the numerous opportunities and additional features that the digital world provides, I really can’t see how reading a book from a screen can create the same sensation as simply reading a book.

So I’m going to write about it, and perhaps review the books I’m reading as I go along. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong and fight for the eBook, I’m actually looking forward to getting my head around this digital world as well…

...but I know I’m not alone in thinking that the Book will never die!!!

So there you go... an introduction to me and my ideas for this blog. I’ll get the first one up very soon J