So, what was it for, really?
I wasn't getting any real use out of it. I admit to occasionally buying ebooks that were written by friends, but after a solid year of reading self-published novels that ALL (yes, every single one of them) turned out to be utter shit, there was no way that I was ever going to use the Kindle for buying such trash again. Why was I keeping it?
Yeah, it makes for a half-assed decent tablet for Internet content if I can find wifi service while on the road.
But was that it?
No.
Finally, after having the damned thing for a couple of years, I did discover a good use for it, and one for which the form is uniquely suited:
Classic literature and otherwise out of print books. I have now downloaded many hundreds of such texts. Essays, novels, old news items, political tracts from the past, and such. And--I mentioned this long ago--it's a good way for authors who have regained ownership of older novels to get works back into circulation once their lives with traditional publishers are over. There is a tremendous amount of great work now easily at hand that I would otherwise be unable to locate or only find after months or years of searching in second-hand bookshops and library sales.
So, for that, the ebook format is good. I still don't prefer it as a method of reading, but I will take it to get my hands on Turgenev, or M.R. James, or some of Mark Twain's forgotten essays, amusing science fiction from past decades, and the list is vast and growing.
Best of all, this stuff all seems to be completely free. All I have to do is locate it online in the correct format and push a button. Zing! It's mine.
But, to paraphrase a now-famous article, 'No, I will not read your fucking self-published novel'.
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| Ivan Turgenev
(And, yes, I produce this expression when someone asks me to read their fucking self-published novel.)
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9 comments:
Google "Project Gutenberg." Also, you can get the complete Sherlock Holmes and all of George Orwell for freebs online, too. Never before in history has so much great lit and philosophy been available to the masses -- but the masses are so dumbed down they wouldn't think to go for it.
Alas! Our fellows are mainly idiots.
I love the Kindle app on my iPhone not only for countless old / public domain free works, but for many,,many new standard books such as all of Sam Harris, many Hitchcock studies, backgammon and physics books and the like.
I have lots of classics downloaded on my Kindle, books on philosophy and science, too. I will never download another self-published book on it. Also, I have no games on it.
Sam Harris...no comment.
Prompted by our Facebook discussion about this, I came here to comment, but find that I did, once. I'll add a couple of brief things.
I've never read anything at all that was self-published, and have no interest in doing so.
And I've never seen the point in owning an actual Kindle or other ereader when the Kindle app on my phone does everything I could want it to (why would I want another device to keep track of?), and many other free ereader apps on my phone give me access to anything Amazon doesn't make available.
Like you, I've taken advantage of the unique opportunity to download and read countless public domain works, including some mentioned above.
I don't have to tell you about my love affair with physical books, I hope, and we'll never break up. But I love my ereaders for three qualities only they offer.
All of my life I've lugged a dictionary around to wherever I'm reading. The ability to merely touch a word to have it defined on the downloaded dictionaries of my choice, or to open a corresponding page on Wikipedia, is sheer magic. A dream come true.
I have precious little space where I live now. My bedroom is a very small one, and it's crammed - mostly with books. That's no concern any longer, and only ereaders could make that possible. I wonder how much space all of my digital works would take up if they materialized!
Finally, of course, there's the speed with which anything can be mine.
So that's what my Kindle (app) and other ereaders are for.
Feh.
I don't hoard books anymore, having sold most of mine. These days I read them and then get rid of them, with few exceptions.
Yes, we all have very selfish reasons for liking things that are horribly destructive.
Kindles (and their cousins) and ebooks are going to destroy English literature as surely as complete ignorance. Because that's what it engenders. The markets are flooded with shit. The ebook/selfpublshing phenomenon has not freed creativity and put knowledge into everyone's hands, it has stifled quality work under a mountain of pure wet shit and put a monstrous publishing monopoly in charge of what should be seen, and what will eventually not be allowed.
I see it every day. I have watched it destroy the publishing industry and the wealth of topics that were once covered and published. I watched friends who once made a living producing quality work become unemployed as writers and reduced to standing behind the cash register at convenience stores. (Yes, I have also seen self-publishing racists and morons actually make six-figure incomes from their ebooks, but on a percentage basis about equal with the successes of any other pyramid scheme.)
Oh, I suppose if you enjoy dinosaur on women bestiality novels (yes, that's actually a thing), then you're in luck. There is a world of dinosaur-raping-women novels that you can buy on Amazon.com. Or if you like neo-Nazi gun porn then you are also in luck--it not only is available in vast numbers, it actually sells (unlike 99.9999999999999% of other ebooks).
Good for you. I'm glad you found some comfort in the format that is eroding the publishing industry and the wealth of literature that we once enjoyed.
This is the single trait that I most often notice in US citizens--a self-interest no matter the cost of it to the greater world.
Dinosaur bestiality, neo-Nazi gun porn and blind self-interest... it's as if you have my house bugged.
This reminds me of something John Waters said.
"If you go home with someone and they don't have books, don't fuck them."
I've always thought that it would be fun to hang out with John Waters. He seems like a pleasant person.
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