Kindle, Keyan and UnLunDun
Sep. 18th, 2010 03:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
keyan_bowesI hadn't planned to buy a Kindle, but I just got one as a present. It's sleek and neat and easy to hold, and of course I had to try it out.
It took a while to set it up, mainly because the keyboard is tiny, and numbers and symbols are tucked away under a separate key. But it only needs doing once, and after a minor technical glitch, I was off and running. I promptly purchased China Mieville's UnLunDun, having encountered a recommendation somewhere on Facebook.
[Technical glitch: After downloading the book, the thing froze. I tried poking at various buttons, but couldn't get a reaction. Called tech support, and within a minute got hold of a nice young woman called Shivangi who walked me through a simple solution: Hold the switch in the on position for 20 seconds to reboot.]
So I'm reading UnLunDun. It's very much my kind of book, but I'm not quite getting into it. I'm not sure if it's the Writer Hat or the Kindle interface.
I should explain the Writer Hat. I have two modes of reading, and it produces a different experience for me. I-the-writer reads for craft. I open the hood, look under the machine, look at plot and pacing and sentence construction and the frequency of adjectives. I-the-reader doesn't give a damn about wandering POVs and adverbitis. I want a story that moves, characters I enjoy spending time with, nothing too dark or grim or gritty, and generally, a happy ending. Reasonably grammatical is all that I-the-reader want.
Usually, I'm good at leaving my Writer Hat lying next to my computer. But this time... I'm getting used to this interface, and while I'm distracted, the Writer-Hat creeps up and leaps onto my head.
I think e-books are going to happen. I think it will be seamless with a little practice. I think within a year or ten, my nine shelves stuffed with paper books will be as obsolete as photographic film.
It took a while to set it up, mainly because the keyboard is tiny, and numbers and symbols are tucked away under a separate key. But it only needs doing once, and after a minor technical glitch, I was off and running. I promptly purchased China Mieville's UnLunDun, having encountered a recommendation somewhere on Facebook.
[Technical glitch: After downloading the book, the thing froze. I tried poking at various buttons, but couldn't get a reaction. Called tech support, and within a minute got hold of a nice young woman called Shivangi who walked me through a simple solution: Hold the switch in the on position for 20 seconds to reboot.]
So I'm reading UnLunDun. It's very much my kind of book, but I'm not quite getting into it. I'm not sure if it's the Writer Hat or the Kindle interface.
I should explain the Writer Hat. I have two modes of reading, and it produces a different experience for me. I-the-writer reads for craft. I open the hood, look under the machine, look at plot and pacing and sentence construction and the frequency of adjectives. I-the-reader doesn't give a damn about wandering POVs and adverbitis. I want a story that moves, characters I enjoy spending time with, nothing too dark or grim or gritty, and generally, a happy ending. Reasonably grammatical is all that I-the-reader want.
Usually, I'm good at leaving my Writer Hat lying next to my computer. But this time... I'm getting used to this interface, and while I'm distracted, the Writer-Hat creeps up and leaps onto my head.
I think e-books are going to happen. I think it will be seamless with a little practice. I think within a year or ten, my nine shelves stuffed with paper books will be as obsolete as photographic film.
