When it comes to reading, I am ever the traditionalist. I love books. I love the smell when they're old and dusty and I love the smell when they're brand new. I love the sound and the sensation of turning pages. I love books with inscriptions on the inside cover and messages in the margins. I love underlining passages that I find interesting or inspiring. I love spaces and cafes with second hand books, they feel like friends of the community. I love how books make a house cosy and inviting, how you can read a family from the titles of the books they own. I love how books can be passed from friend to friend, family member to family member like a little piece of treasure. My gut instinct has always been to reject the concept of reading from a screen. It destroys the art of book making. Furthermore, most people I know who are avid Kindle users weren't the kids who spent every night under their covers with a torch devouring novel after novel, it's purely practical, they don't read literature that inspires a relationship between author and reader - this is in no way a criticism, merely an observation. If you have a Kindle and have the same attitude to reading as I do then PLEASE comment on this post and give me your opinion.
I have a lot of memories attached to books. For example, my small copy of Pride and Prejudice was give to me by my Grandma, I bought my hardback edition of War and Peace on a chilly December afternoon in a Clifton charity shop, my copy of the Communist Manifesto is from Hugendubel in Munich and my beautifully bound copy of Leben Michelangelos was discovered by me in a pile of books being given away, for free, by Bristol's German department.
I also live with two English students who, like me, love the physical act of buying books or receiving them in the post - there are always squeals of delight when Amazon brings us a package of paper-bound goodness. To wait for a book ordered from the internet or to actually go out and buy it in the shop shows an appreciation for literature, it's not an instant gratification. This is another thing that bugs me about E-Readers, is how it kindles our greed and need for speed. I also find that having too much technology clutters my mind and stresses me out - this is why I have yet to get a snazzy phone or be in anyway allured by ipads or other tablets.
However, I have dilemma. As some of you may know, I will be living abroad for a year as part of my degree. I have decided not to choose the studying option, thinking that a break from the academic pandemonium of essays and exams might do me some good. Thus, I am hoping to spend 6 months working in Germany and six months teaching in Italy. This will inevitably give me a lot of time to read for pleasure - something which, at uni, is hard to find. The problem is, I can't lug all the books I want to read over to the continent, it's impractical and expensive. When I was at the YWAM base in Milan, I met a couple who loved to read, but because of the community living arrangements didn't think it was practical to keep buying books, so they bought each other Kindles. For the traveller, it seems a good idea. I'm also one of those people who always carries reading material in her handbag, and by reading material I mean a selection of books of varying genres and significance. I just never know what I might be in the mood for if my train is late! My boyfriend gets SO annoyed with how heavy my bag is and I think my back is starting to get a little grumpy too. Again, a kindle may solve this problem! I told the girls in my flat, that I was tempted by a Kindle for purely practical reasons. They think I'm selling my soul. Katie said she would give her consent only if I promised to throw it away (or not use it) on my return to England. My predicament is a sensitive area for me, and I would love to hear some more opinions on the matter. Will buying a kindle turn me into a technology consumed Amazon robot, or will it supplement my reading habits by simply being a practical alternative that I can turn to in times of travel.
