About two years ago my mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I had been toying around with the idea of buying a kindle for some time, but I was still on the fence about it. I mean, could I really forsake my huge library for an electronic thing that weighed less than a pound? And could I jusitfy buying books for $9.99 when I could walk to Brown Elephant and buy a paperback for $.25? My library had grown considerably once I figured out that Brown Elephant carried books and when I realized how cheap they were. Soon I was buying books that I hadn't even heard of before! I was addicted. From the summer of 2009 until I got my Kindle in the summer of 2010 I read 17 books. I know that doesn't sound too terribly impressive...but I impressed myself. The problem with reading that many books is that I had to CARRY all of those books, not at the same time mind you, to and from the train everyday. If there was any chance that I could sneak in a bit of reading anywhere I had to make sure that I had the book in my purse, and if there was a possibility that I would finish a book on the way to or from work I had to bring a back up book with me because I can't just sit idle on the train. The day that I realized that I should even consider buying a Kindle was when I was halfway through one massive book. "The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool; Will Somers". This book is OVER 1,000 pages long and it's a bitch to carry around with you everywhere. I felt like I was back in highschool carrying around all of those nonsense text books. So, I started to research and I found that I could get a Kindle for $120 with ads. My boyfriend HATES that it advertises when I put it in sleep mode, but all you have to do is turn it over and "voila" no more ads, but he says it's still like having a big ol' billboard in the house.
When the day came for my Kindle to arrive I was over the moon excited! I wouldn't have to break my back anymore trying to carry larger books around in my purse! I wouldn't have to carry multiple books around with me because I could carry 1,400 books with me at one time! How amazing was this thing!?!? And then one day it happened. I started reading "The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" and I felt like I was betraying Mr. J.R.R Tolkein by not holding the book and touching the pages. It took me awhile to figure this out, I couldn't figure out why I was feeling so awkward reading the book and why I wasn't really getting into it, like I had so many others. "One Day", "The Hunger Games Triology", "The Notebook", "Beaches". Then it dawned on me. Although all of those books are great books (well except maybe "Beaches", if you're interested watch the movies it's ten times better, a first I think for that to happen) they were "modern", if I can use that word. I didn't feel a pang of guilt while reading those, but with "Fellowship" I felt bad. So, I decided to pick up the book. We have the entire trilogy in the house so why not try it? As soon as I felt the pages beneath my fingertips I knew that this is the way you were meant to read it. A classic should be touched. That is the way it was written with pen to paper, or sometimes with typewriter to paper, but there was still paper involved in the process, and so there should be paper involved in the reading. I'm happy to report that I am now completely immersed in the world of Middle Earth and I am flying through the first book, which I don't think would've happened if I had kept going on with my Kindle. So, even though I love my Kindle and I will continue to use it, if ever I read a classic; "Wuthering Heights", "Atlas Shrugged", "Pride and Prejudice", "Jane Eyre", I will always have to feel the weight of the book in my hands.
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