Well, first of all, I have to talk about the latest paperback book I have read. Cousin Phillis and Other Stories is by Elizabeth Gaskell, a Victorian novelist. I have read Cranford which I really enjoyed, and this one too, was very enjoyable. It is a book of short stories, and as with Ms Gaskell's other books, the females, although feminine, enjoy strong roles and characters. The emotions throughout all the stories are so strong and pure, you cannot help believing in love and propriety, and wondering how much simpler life was then, with the social rules in place. As a bonus with this book, there is a fantastic chronology of the author's life, mapped against historical and cultural events at that time. It really put things into context and it was so interesting seeing how she worked alongside Charles Dickens and other famous authors of the time. Elizabeth Gaskell brings me onto the second part of my post. I am wondering if I have sold out. I love books, with a passion, but I have bought myself a Kindle. There is a good reason for this. I am doing a PhD, and I need to do lots of reading. I don't have a printer, and yes, I could get one, but I would prefer not to print out loads of papers. Initially, I thought I would read the papers on my netbook. However, on the train, when I do all my reading, I rarely get a seat, so the netbook idea doesn't work. So, I am experimenting with Amazon's Kindle, and it is working out quite well. I don't know if it is as sophisticated as the Sony eReader, but it is cheaper and it does everything I need it to. Also, when you turn it off, it displays beautiful images from old books and of famous authors. I love that. It is very pretty. I bought the wifi version. I did have a few blips at the start, but I have worked out my system now. Rather than transferring books via wireless from Amazon to Kindle, I download them to my netbook and then transfer them via the USB cable. This is much quicker. Saying that, I did buy a book from the Kindle store and it was delivered within seconds. I can store PDFs of the papers, and make notes, even while standing up. The other thing which I have discovered to my detriment, as it is distracting me from my reading, is that you can download more than 4,500 electronic books for free, from Kindle alone! So, I have downloaded Sherlock Holmes, and I am allowing myself some time for pleasure-reading, and what a pleasure Sherlock Holmes is! I love the characters and all the mysteries, but I cannot help comparing Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson to Monsieur Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings. The similarities are just all too strong, with Monsieur Poirot and his "little grey cells" and Mr Holmes with his observations and deductions. How can two people come up with so many mysteries!
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Victorian literature and Kindle
Well, first of all, I have to talk about the latest paperback book I have read. Cousin Phillis and Other Stories is by Elizabeth Gaskell, a Victorian novelist. I have read Cranford which I really enjoyed, and this one too, was very enjoyable. It is a book of short stories, and as with Ms Gaskell's other books, the females, although feminine, enjoy strong roles and characters. The emotions throughout all the stories are so strong and pure, you cannot help believing in love and propriety, and wondering how much simpler life was then, with the social rules in place. As a bonus with this book, there is a fantastic chronology of the author's life, mapped against historical and cultural events at that time. It really put things into context and it was so interesting seeing how she worked alongside Charles Dickens and other famous authors of the time. Elizabeth Gaskell brings me onto the second part of my post. I am wondering if I have sold out. I love books, with a passion, but I have bought myself a Kindle. There is a good reason for this. I am doing a PhD, and I need to do lots of reading. I don't have a printer, and yes, I could get one, but I would prefer not to print out loads of papers. Initially, I thought I would read the papers on my netbook. However, on the train, when I do all my reading, I rarely get a seat, so the netbook idea doesn't work. So, I am experimenting with Amazon's Kindle, and it is working out quite well. I don't know if it is as sophisticated as the Sony eReader, but it is cheaper and it does everything I need it to. Also, when you turn it off, it displays beautiful images from old books and of famous authors. I love that. It is very pretty. I bought the wifi version. I did have a few blips at the start, but I have worked out my system now. Rather than transferring books via wireless from Amazon to Kindle, I download them to my netbook and then transfer them via the USB cable. This is much quicker. Saying that, I did buy a book from the Kindle store and it was delivered within seconds. I can store PDFs of the papers, and make notes, even while standing up. The other thing which I have discovered to my detriment, as it is distracting me from my reading, is that you can download more than 4,500 electronic books for free, from Kindle alone! So, I have downloaded Sherlock Holmes, and I am allowing myself some time for pleasure-reading, and what a pleasure Sherlock Holmes is! I love the characters and all the mysteries, but I cannot help comparing Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson to Monsieur Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings. The similarities are just all too strong, with Monsieur Poirot and his "little grey cells" and Mr Holmes with his observations and deductions. How can two people come up with so many mysteries!
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