In Glory Road, Heinlein has a character who can’t go to sleep and he asks for something to read. “Words in a row” is the way he put it. I remember that really resonating with me, as I have had a similar habit since even before I got into science fiction.[1]
So, I’m a pretty voracious reader. When I started carrying a purse regularly, purse shopping took on some serious specifics. It had to be large enough to fit a couple of paperbacks. Even so I had to leave some of my favorite epics at home whenever I travelled.[2] I disliked that.
When e-readers became popular, I cheered. Most of my favorite books really are words in a row. Not too many diagrams or illustrations needed to supplement the text[3] and formatting page by page wasn’t a real issue. It was the text that was the important thing.
So, I’m a big fan of e-readers. I get a little frisson of delight when I slip my Kindle into my purse with its library of hundreds of books to choose from. I like it even better when I am reading long computer manuals on travel and don’t have to carry those brick-like things with me and crowd out my fiction weight!
Does that mean I hate “dead tree” books?
Not in the least. My copy of The Lord of the Rings in its red leather binding is a treasure to me. I love the marriage of the art of the book craft as well as the story. A book on origami or knitting is pointless on a Kindle. The color illustrations that are large enough to see and understand are integral to the usefulness and beauty of the book.[4]
But when it’s words in a row that make the story and make the art, my oh my do I love my e-reader.
[1] I read my first science fiction story in the fourth grade. “The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov. That “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury were in our reading books that year. I was hooked.
[2] Shogun, Mists of Avalon, a few others…
[3] Well, elvish rune, sure. But other than that, not really.
[4] Yes, I know. A tablet computer would handle those things much better.