Over Christmas I received a Kindle, something I have been wanting for a while now. I happily downloaded Anne of Green Gables (one of Amazon's free downloads) and started reading, fighting my oldest daughter for the use of the Kindle initially. She gave up rather quickly, and later as I was reading I could see why (words like obdurate are not at an eight year old reading level, even a really smart eight year old). I joined the Anne of Green Gables challenge, thinking I had all year to read the series, only to find that really, the challenge is just for the month of January. So here it is, January 21, and I have completed the first book. I probably won't be starting any others in the next week or so, even though I do plan on reading the entire series this year.
What did I think of Anne? I am probably one of the only bloggers not to have read Anne as a child. So, there will be no rehashing of the plot. I enjoyed Anne. She is an amusing character, and the book is a nice book. As a kid I would have really liked these books, maybe even loved them. As an adult, well, it was a nice book. The plot wasn't so riveting I couldn't put it down, and I do think reading it on the Kindle was a totally different experience than if I had read the actual book-in-my-hand version. The entire time I was reading I felt sort of like I was cheating. Surely, this wasn't really reading. It is like reading off a computer screen, and my time at the computer isn't really considered my "leisure reading" time. There are some things I will have to adjust to - like not having page numbers. There is a percentage given at the bottom of the screen showing how much of the book has been read, but I couldn't decide if I had read 50 pages or 200 as I read. I also didn't know how many more pages were coming in each chapter as I read. Was a chapter going to take me five minutes or fifteen? With a book you can look ahead and see how long a chapter may take to read, how much is left.
I did finish Anne a few nights ago. I started another book on the Kindle and for whatever reason, I am enjoying this one a bit more. However, if the Kindle was meant as a way for me to stop putting books in our house, I don't think it is going to happen. There is just no substitute for a real book, and so, someday I may find my actual Anne of Green Gables book and try it again and see how much different my experience is.
4 comments:
VERY interesting hearing your experience of reading this book on a Kindle. That's a unique perspective and I'm glad you shared. I haven't jumped in on the Kindle craze, preferring a book in hand, but I do get the fact that it's a convenient way of traveling with books.
Glad you participated in the challenge and thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book!
I didn't read Anne as a child, either. I had never heard of her til the movies came out on PBS and then I read the series. I was in my mid- to late 20s then, I think. I enjoyed revisiting Anne for the challenge.
I wouldn't like not knowing how many pages were left in a chapter or what page I was on. I wonder what that will do to quotations from books if people quote from the Kindle without a page number to refer to. Overall I like actual physical books better, but I can see the Kindle for portability if I commuted or traveled a lot. I travel so little, though, that I take a few books with me.
Enjoyed your review, thanks!
Thanks for your thoughts on Kindle. I keep looking e-readers, but haven't been able to make up my mind if I'd like it.
I think it's possible to get kicked out of blog land for saying this, but I didn't like Anne. She annoyed me. I did not read it as a child so had no fond memories to go back on. I also recently reread Little Women and have to say I enjoyed it much more as a child as well.
Post a Comment