I was planning to write about camping but that’s not how I roll. During camping I’ve been experimenting with dead tree paperbacks versus e-book kindle books. I decided to veer into that patch of weeds.
My reasoning is that there’s a deeper and slower connection with the mind if you’re reading print from dead tree than fonts on ephemeral LCD screens.
I’m not a one man scientific experiment and it’s really hard to assess one’s reaction to books. They’re each subjectively different and subjective. So my sincere desire to suss out the dead tree / e-book divide is probably doomed. Anyway, I picked out an assortment of books and read them (some while camping).
Here’s my “sample”:
For an e-book “control sample” I recently read Adjustment Day by Chuck Palahniuk on Kindle. What a disaster! (Warning: DON’T BUY ADJUSTMENT DAY!) Adjustment Day may be the worst book I’ve ever read. I had high hopes but Palahniuk just can’t write well. Also, based on his disjointed, perverted, half assed book… dude’s got issues. I mean serious issues. Like therapy and medication and maybe just keep him away from society for a while. His pointless story was a disgusting slog thorough a depraved yet remarkably uncreative mind. I wanted to sterilize my iPad after letting that dude’s gross book into its memory.
Another e-book misfire was Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart. It was meant to be a “control” in the dead tree / e-book challenge. Sadly, it didn’t work out and I’m only halfway through. It’s an ok book but it’s about a man dealing with grief. I have my own such journey. It’s too heavy right now. This in no way reflects on Peart’s literature! I’m sure I’d love it in some other sunny world, but after certain events last year, I can’t go there.
After Palahniuk and Peart, I expanded the “experiment” to “fluff”. Meaning books that were never intended to be learned tomes of deep wisdom. I think they were once called “beach books”? Sometimes you gotta’ peer into the dark but you don’t need to make a mission out of it.
On my last campout I read The Road To Missanabie on dead tree. It’s part of my “fluff book” list. It cost $4 on Kindle and $15 on dead tree. It’s a steep price increase for the physical object! I ponied up the extra $11 as part of my experiment in dead tree versus e-book.
I recently read old sci-fi (The Space Merchants by Kornbluth, 1953) not just on dead tree but used. (Beware! Amazon’s unholy algorithm will try to reroute you away from the Kornbluth story to something else.)
On e-book, I’m nearly done reading Union Station Omnibus: Books 1 – 5 (EarthCent Ambassador Beginnings). I wanted to pivot away from depth and I sure did! It’s what I think of as “super extra fluffy chick-lit” but it’s not all bad. I sorta’ like it in a “meh” way. In 2024 anything not actively beating me to death with woke (or depravity like Adjustment Day) is welcome. It’s smoothly written, shallow, fun-ish, and pleasantly forgettable. As analogy, I usually drink whiskey, but maybe an occasional sip of lite beer won’t kill me.
On deck for dead tree “fluff” I’ve ordered The Mark Of Zorro: The Curse Of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley. (Supposedly this is the real Zorro and not some dipshit re-make. Time will tell.) I haven’t received it yet but I have high hopes! A 1919 book about a Spanish horse riding, aristocratic, swashbuckling, Batman in 1800’s California sounds perfect! It should while away the hours.
What have I learned? Nothing.
I can’t really say I’ve compared equivalent e-books and dead tree books. One e-book I chose would suck even if it were engraved on gold plates and the other was just too close to a personal loss.
The only true measurable fact is that the dash of my truck now has a couple paperbacks clogging the defroster vents.
What can I say? I have a theory but it’s not an exact testable science.
Maybe in my next post I’ll remember I was writing about camping.
One book I used to read several times a year was DHARMA BUMS by Jack Kerouac. Was especially drawn to his description of living out of his backpack where you hadn’t a clue where you were going to rest your head this evening. That takes an adventurous spirit. Several ‘camp-outs’ and hikes were recounted.
If you haven’t read it ever or its ‘been a while’, maybe worth re-visiting and ‘circling back’ (Had to say that – wonder where little red haired girl went to ?)
Throwing a little religion into the mix, it’s awesome to have a digital Bible with all it’s translations available at your fingertips but I don’t think church is the place for e-devices.
About 10 years ago, I was pulling all-nighters in the IEN cleanrooms at Georgia Tech, working on a project for my degree. I had to be physically present in the room to keep a piece of equipment logged on and scanning statistics of some surface structure. The central computer would log you out if you left, and it would lock you out if you tried to leave or come back after hours. But those were the only hours the machine was going to be available for 14 hour stretches of time. There was absolutely nothing to *do* but sit in a rolling chair in a bunny suit and read books. (E-reader, paper was not allowed.) Very atmospheric and eerie (and uncomfortable). Dim yellow lighting, windowless underground labspace, no other people (except occasionally), no food, no water, no bathroom breaks, no taking that freaking mask off (I learned to hate those stupid masks long before COVID.)
After I finished the Count of Monte Cristo, and 30 years after, and Burroughs, and Robert E. Howard, I would also go through more modern stuff. I think the Union Station stuff may have been one of the ones I sampled during my reading.
Anyway, couldn’t have done it without the e-reader.
-madrocketsci
So, I suppose it’s the polar opposite of a wonderful campsite. Solitude, but nothing else in common. I did get a lot of reading done.
-madrocketsci
Yeah a clean room with a kindle is quiet but it’s not a peaceful forest.