The practice of judging people by the covers of their books is old and time-honored. And the Kindle, which looks kind of like a giant white calculator, is the technology equivalent of a plain brown wrapper. But for the purpose of sizing up a stranger from afar, perhaps the biggest problem with Kindle or its kin is the camouflage factor: when no one can tell what you’re reading, how can you make it clear that you’re poring over the new Lincoln biography as opposed to, say, “He’s Just Not That Into You”? Michael Silverblatt, host of the weekly public radio show “Bookworm,” uses the term “literary desire” to describe the attraction that comes with seeing a stranger reading your favorite book or author. “When I was a teenager waiting in line for a film showing at the Museum of Modern Art and someone was carrying a book I loved, I would start to have fantasies about being best friends or lovers with that person,” he said. Ah, I can relate to that last bit. If I saw someone reading one of five or so books, I would immediately introduce myself and set up a lunch. Because, of course, this person would be my new best friend. (Hmm. That would be a great tool on GoodReads. Each person can select five books, or a cluster of a certain kind of book. Their favorite, central-to-my-identity books. If someone within 50 miles of your geographic location marks it as "read" and has given it 4 or 5 stars, they I am notified by email.)
From the NYTimes
Another reason that I don't like Kindles. How can I see what other people are reading?? It's my favorite snobby spy activity. What can I deduce about someone from their reading material? I do it at the gym, the doctor's office, and on vacation.
Some of my favorite quotations from the article:
Monday, April 27, 2009
With Kindle, Can You Tell It’s Proust?
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4 comments:
Hey, that is a good idea about the goodreads tool. Except, the books I consider central to my identity change about every six months.
Hmm. Maybe you could have some sort of weighted measure. They you could include everything, change what's included over time, and also how everything is weighted. It could be kind of like a cluster cloud, and then if someone else's cloud overlapped with yours, you'd get notified.
Or maybe instead of daydreaming about this, I should just get to know my neighbors better!
you have all kinds of good ideas!
I agree with you mostly on the Kindle...my objections: I would miss turning pages and the smell of books (although I just returned one unread from the library because it smelled of cigarettes and I just couldn't enjoy the experience of reading it). And I can't tell you how many books I've misplaced on trips, etc. With the Kindle that could get very expensive.
However, I think Kindles have a place. My best friend works overseas doing international aid where english language books aren't available but she usually has internet access. When she last visited, I talked her into purchasing one and she loves it.
Someone (probably Ed) told me that the NY Times would actually save money from printing costs if they purchased a kindle for each of their subscribers and distributed the paper that way....I'm not sure if that is really true.....
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