Week Eleven Prompt
Week Eleven Prompt
Reading an ebook is a different experience from reading a traditional print book. Before this, I wasn’t really sure how to put my finger on why it was different, but after looking into it, it became clear that it wasn’t just me and it wasn’t an entirely subjective feeling of it “just” being different. A huge difference that I’ve personally noticed, and apparently others have as well, is that I can remember where a certain sentence or paragraph is in a print book. I can think, "That definitely happened early on, in the book's first part. I think it was midway down the page on the right side.”
Apparently, a lot of people do that, and if someone asked me to use an ebook to do the same thing, there is absolutely no way I could do that. Rizer notes, in a Book Riot article, that researchers have found that people do remember where things are the way that I stated (Rizer, 2021, para. 10). She also says that “Those who read digitally float through a novel without clear cut borders to use as touchstones,” (Rizer, 2021, para. 10).
People also seem to use ebooks (and audiobooks) in different ways. Our blog post for this week mentioned that a lot of people use ebooks for traveling (Cataldi, 2023). The Book Riot article points out that “some readers only use their Kindle for ‘lighthearted’ reads, leaving the complicated, multiple POV narratives for print,” (Rizer, 2021, para 10).
Ebooks, even though I see a lot of people put them down, aren’t bad. They’re just different reading experiences that people use for different things. The same could be said for audiobooks, which I have really started liking in the past few years. As was mentioned in our blog posts, the narrator really does have a big impact on whether an ebook is good or not (Cataldi, 2021). I’ve been listening to the audiobook of the first Anita Blake book, and its narrator is pretty good. My personal favorites are, of course, Jim Dale (Harry Potter) and Rebecca Soler (Several YA series, including, Cinder, Caraval, and Gilded). I very much identify with having to set aside time to read something in print or ebook because I strongly disliked the narrator (not naming names).
One last thing about audiobooks changing the appeal. Though it’s a children’s/YA series, the best example of this is actually the Jim Dale vs. Stephen Fry debate. Another Book Riot article pointed out the various differences between the two and came to the conclusion that the difference in style creates a significant difference in the tone of each adaptation. Jim Dale is much more humorous. They argue that Dale’s “Hermione is more shrill, Draco more cartoonishly evil, Trelawney more spooky and ditzy,” (Hall, 2013, para. 10). Hall thinks that the best way to think of their differences is to consider Tim Burton’s and Christopher Nolan’s Batmans.
Sources
Cataldi, E. (2023, March 20). Week eleven. Blogger. http://readersadvisoryblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/week-eleven.htmlHall, R. (2013, December 9). Stephen Fry vs. Jim Dale. Book Riot. https://bookriot.com/stephen-fry-vs-jim-dale-harry-potter-narrators/
Rizer, A. (2021, March 2). How reading ebooks changes our perception (and reviews). Book Riot. https://bookriot.com/reading-ebooks/
Katie,
ReplyDeleteIm impressed with your ability to remember exactly where a specific quote is on the page. I agree theres something *off* about reading from a e-book. I would typically use my iPad, but I have previously used a Kindle and I found that I would read faster because of how quickly you can 'flip' pages and how conveniently you can change the color of pages. But there something about it isn't as satisfying as flipping the last page and closing the book, or the crack of the spine and feeling the texture of the paper. This is such an important part of reading that there are even candles that smell like old books. I (like George Costanza in that Seinfeld episode) need my books, even after I read them, I enjoy seeing them on my shelf and thinking about the story again and maybe sending them to a new home.
Audio books are fine, I don't mind them, but I would take a podcast over them every day, hot take. But I remember working at a public library and a family came in for *The Tale of Desperaux* on audio and they told me the family listened to it every time they drove to their vacation spot. It put audio books in a different perspective.
-Emma
I like audiobooks for when I'm cleaning and grocery shopping and the like. I do also enjoy podcasts (my favorite is H3!). Also, with being able to change the colors for ebooks; that's actually really nice because I feel like eye strain is a common issue if I look at a screen for too long. I get migraines and I have to be careful because it can trigger them (getting wrapped up in a video game is not good for that).
Deleteyou bring up so many great points! Like you - I know "generally" where in the book a certain passage is - but would be lost if I tried to do that on an ebook. I also love that you brought up the great narrator debate with HP. Full points!
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