Monday, October 29, 2007


Reading Jane Austen on a BlackBerry -- Reader, I Liked It

This story from the Chicago Tribune.

It is a truth too rarely acknowledged, that a commuter in possession of a sophisticated electronic device, must be in want of a good book.
Put another way, free of the influence of Jane Austen's famous first sentence, I just read "Pride and Prejudice" on my BlackBerry.
And, reader, I liked it. Against all my own prejudices, all my own pride in the history and tradition of the printed word, I liked it.
I liked holding it in one hand, having it always with me, and customizing my fonts and screen color. I liked reading it on the train without advertising my tastes; I could have been reading "Tropic of Cancer" or "The Firm."
I really liked reading it in bed without the encumbrance of a book light.

I liked it all so much, I've moved on to Austen's "Persuasion" and am, frankly, halfway annoyed at having to take time away from that to write this. What comeuppance will the vain spendthrift Sir Walter receive, and will his deserving daughter Anne find satisfaction?
I hadn't expected to fall so easily under the spell of the e-book.

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