To read or e-read: that is the question
There seems to be no shortage of opinions in the press lately on e-book readers. In a column today, veteran New York Times writer and editorial board member Eleanor Randolph weighs in with her take on the Kindle. While she’s certainly not alone in musing that the reader isn’t the best way to tackle a weighty novel, she may be the first to suggest the device could help solve the eternal dilemma of a bookish household’s endless clutter:
My family has an unhealthy love of books. They attach themselves to us like pets, and our apartment has so many volumes that I worry about the entire eccentric library crashing suddenly through the floor and resettling itself on the neighbor downstairs. So, an electronic book makes sense. One small thing that contains a bookcase full of stories and recipes and solutions for world peace would seem to offer a very advanced solution to our family’s housekeeping problem.
Or several small things, unless you don’t mind some fighting over who gets the household book collection after dinner. Anyway, after giving the Kindle a spin, Randolph isn’t entirely convinced that the future of reading lies in a little handheld gadget:
It is easy to see that the e-book has its place — like on an airplane. There are also times when it doesn’t belong. For reading at the beach or in the bathtub. Or for [reading] Salman Rushdie, there is still nothing like a good old-fashioned hardback.
