Thought

“I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve.” – Benjamin Jowett.

Crappy days don’t stand a chance against the curative power found in a good book. I adore the written word.

 

The Smell of a Notebook

There are many things that can inspire a writer. A pretty face, a spring morning, the way the sun sparkles off the dew drops on the petals of a slowly budding rose. For me, it is notebooks. The way they look, the way the pages fall, line width, line color, cover design, the way the pages feel, what it sounds like when I open it, if it lies flat or if it refuses to stay open, what kind of pens and pencils will be used to write in it, the list goes on and on. Notebooks to me are synonymous with the revered wide-margined gilded cover publications heralded in Charles Chesnutt’s short story “Baxter’s Procrustes” (a good and entertaining read by the way, well worth the fifteen minutes it takes to read it). Baxter’s Procrustes

When I pick up a notebook, my mind whirls with all the wonderful things I can write in them. With each one I buy there is an invisible dedication inscribed on the first page (I never EVER write on the very first page, call it superstition if you want) speaking of how it will be the catalyst for the next best-selling novel. Oh if only I could make that a reality.

What actually happens is this.

I buy the notebook and carry it around with me. Should inspiration strike I am ready with my notebook and pen, free to write to my heart’s content without the limitations of setting up a computer. Eventually I put it on a shelf, caressing the spine with a promise that I will soon fill it with words just as soon as my back stops hurting from hauling around its extra weight. It ends there. An empty notebook–still inspiring–yet empty.

To date I have 45 notebooks. None of them are more than 1/4 of the way filled.

I still get giddy looking at them. Occasionally I pick one up and carry it around again, knowing that today will be the day I begin writing some epic work of literature. Honestly, I’m afraid to spoil those perfect empty pages. It is so much easier to imagine perfect little pieces of literary heaven on blank pages then sitting down to write said words. In a sick, sad little way the very thing that inspires me also keeps me from getting much writing accomplished.

I’m not afraid of a lot of things (other than spiders and things that go gurgle, scream, creak, roar, drip, tock, whistle in the dark after a scary movie) but who would have thought leaflets of bound, blank pages could be so frightening? I hear that some authors feel the same way about a blank word processing screen with the blinking vertical line and all, but at the very least you can type nonsense and then delete it. The same can’t be done so easily once you write it down. A part of me feels like this is utter foolishness, but I also feel that this is a serious issue that someone else may suffer from.

What say you?

 

Vook: Cool Idea or Bad News

Cool? Yes. Good for brain cells? Hmm.....

So I chanced upon an article about this latest development in the publishing world, and as an avid reader and an incurable bibliophile I can’t say whether I am impressed with the ingenuity of this new form of book, or repulsed by what it really implies. The Vook is essentially a book, that has embedded video, photographs, web-links and other joyful gumdrops to add another dimension to classic printed on paper books. It goes one step further than the various e-readers out there (Kindle, Nook) by providing more than just words on a page with the occasional doodle if we’re lucky.

It goes without saying that attention spans are getting shorter as nearly everything from how long it takes to get food, download a movie off the internet, to watch the news, or to mince carrots (with the slap chop for example) can be accomplished faster and faster each day. In fact if these things did not occur with haste, people would probably riot in the streets if any of those things took an overly long time to accomplish, regardless of quality. The Vook is just another pacifier for the masses of Got to Have it Now-ers.

The Pros

• Very cool hybrid between a movie and a book. (Video + Book = Vook…maybe not so many points for a stunningly original name.)
• Can provide a more thorough reading experience by way of web-links to additional information most may not take the time to look up otherwise.
• Very clean, multi-platform interface available for basic web access, but also as an iPhone app. Has full integration with other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter
• Forums where readers can congregate and discuss the book–excuse me Vook–they are reading.

The Cons

• By incorporating video and photographs, is it safe to say that an imagination is no longer needed when it comes to reading? Half the fun of reading a book is the visualization process that has to occur. In the minds of two people one character can appear drastically different. Would a reader even attempt to imagine the setting, the sound of a character’s voice, how the pockmarks on the evil man’s face capture the sunlight in an eerie menacing way, if in a few web-pages they know a video with an actor portraying the role of a character is there?
• No selection at all. For now. Only about 5 books have been uploaded. One of which is on real estate.
• To use a Vook, you either have to have a computer or an iPhone with you. Neither of which can survive having a full jug of grape juice spilled on them, and still live to tell about it the next day.
• I’m pretty sure clicking on all these extra links placed smack dab in the middle of a paragraph, in the midst of some action would prove more distracting than helpful at times. Having to watch a video or check out a link for more information would undoubtedly mess up the flow of the written word. Which leaves me to question the quality of the writing itself.
• Is this encouraging even SHORTER attention spans? Is the “I don’t like to read stuff that isn’t over the top action from cover to cover” pandemic so serious that no one can stand to sit through a genuinely good work of literature?

While I don’t think that the Vook is going to directly compete with the classic paper edition books, I do think the idea is the start of a very bold new movement in the publishing industry. As a literature snob, I cringe. Nothing beats cracking the spine of a brand new book. But as a media chick I’m waving my pom-poms in the air and doing triple back-flips, cheering for the creators who decided to give traditional book publishing a face-lift.

http://www.vook.com