Since the Kindle came out and everyone was banging on about it (even some of my lecturers who have been in this biz for however long) I decided I'm not going to get one for 3 reasons: 1) I dislike e-books anyway, 2) I don't fancy sitting on a train flashing a 150 quid piece of slate while I can get the same book in paperback for £2.50 and 3) I'm a person who prefers to not be like everyone else or one of those generics you see in the high street on a daily basis (i.e. I refuse to upgrade to a Blackberry or buy an iPhone and besides, after hours of research I discovered that my Nokia C3 does pretty much the same thing as a BB minus the messenger and I've not had 1 thing to dislike about it (apart from waking me up at 7 in the morning but that's UEL's fault really, not mine or the phone's).
A bit arrogant, yes, but oh well.
However(!), since starting uni I've been forced to buy a number of books which can cost well over a tenner sometimes and then having to remember which book to take to which lecture etc etc. Now, after a small bit of thought until my head started to hurt I thought it might just be easier and a bit cheaper to buy an e-reader from Asda priced at just £54. Okay, not a bit but one hundred big ones.
People go on about the Kindle using this e-ink which prevents the sun from not reflecting on the screen or some bollocks like that. Why not just block the beam with your hand?
So the Kindle has WiFi, a music player, Wikipedia, 3G (I still have no idea what that is yet everyone bangs on about it) and probably some sort of vending machine - pretty much what that thing in your pocket called a smartphone has. With this in mind, can't you help but wonder why someone would buy this piece of junk?
Rant over. Flame away.
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Friday, 11 February 2011
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys
Firstly, apologies for not updating this blog recently, I was reading another book but due to it's deepness I needed a quick break and decided to read Good Morning, Midnight which was very short (150 pages) and quite a light read for it's time so it was a good 'clear the head' book.
Along with this I've been doing a lot of writing for a few websites and trying to sort a few things out.
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The main plot follows a week in the life of our protagonist who likes to call herself Sasha. Through the week she has work problems, man troubles and likes to drink a lot which usually results in her crying. In everyday life, Sasha is a person many people would find extremely annoying and be that person in the pub which you avoid. In Good Morning, Midnight however, I couldn't help but like Sasha.
Along with Sasha we have a few other characters including men who want to be with her, a weird man who lives next to her and another man who she seems to want to be with but chooses not to. Yeah, I was a bit confused here also.
Throughout the dialogue there were many phrases written/spoken in French which I didn't understand a word of. However, sometimes before or after this was said, another phrase was said which, when studying both, could have been the same phrase repeated in English. I guess I'll never know unless I spend hours researching.
When I picked this book up whilst browsing the library I didn't really know what to expect. I thought maybe I'd be reading a piece of trashy chick-lit but I was wrong. This book was on the edge of chick-lit but it also had class and a decent story worthy of being put onto the "literature" shelf in Oxfam. I get the feeling that I'll be reading some more of Jean Rhys' work in the future.
Put simply I'll have to say I really enjoyed this book and despite the protagonist being a person with man troubles, I feel that any changes may risk ruining the book. This one gets a 4 out of 5 from me.
Along with this I've been doing a lot of writing for a few websites and trying to sort a few things out.
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The main plot follows a week in the life of our protagonist who likes to call herself Sasha. Through the week she has work problems, man troubles and likes to drink a lot which usually results in her crying. In everyday life, Sasha is a person many people would find extremely annoying and be that person in the pub which you avoid. In Good Morning, Midnight however, I couldn't help but like Sasha.
Along with Sasha we have a few other characters including men who want to be with her, a weird man who lives next to her and another man who she seems to want to be with but chooses not to. Yeah, I was a bit confused here also.
Throughout the dialogue there were many phrases written/spoken in French which I didn't understand a word of. However, sometimes before or after this was said, another phrase was said which, when studying both, could have been the same phrase repeated in English. I guess I'll never know unless I spend hours researching.
When I picked this book up whilst browsing the library I didn't really know what to expect. I thought maybe I'd be reading a piece of trashy chick-lit but I was wrong. This book was on the edge of chick-lit but it also had class and a decent story worthy of being put onto the "literature" shelf in Oxfam. I get the feeling that I'll be reading some more of Jean Rhys' work in the future.
Put simply I'll have to say I really enjoyed this book and despite the protagonist being a person with man troubles, I feel that any changes may risk ruining the book. This one gets a 4 out of 5 from me.
Friday, 17 December 2010
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
This is a book I've wanted to read for some time now but never managed to get my hands on it but, finally, I have and you could say I'm glad glad I managed to do so.
This is one of those "set in the future" books where the world has changed with weird laws and machines. A somewhat utopian world.
As mentioned, the story is based in a futuristic world in which books are banned and should a book be found a 'fireman' - in this case, a man who goes to the location of the book(s), sprays it/them with kerosene and proceeds to burn the books. We follow the life of Guy Montag, a fireman who, when working catches a glipse of a book and reads "Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine". Mesmerised by these words he decides to keep the book.
Wht follows is a story of a man whom disagrees with these laws and, due to having kept a pile of books is forced into secrecy. However, the day he decides to read out a poem to a group of his wife's friends he is sent into a downward spiral which turns into survival of the fittest.
Having been discovered in posession of a book Montag is forced to escape the city and get away as far he can and this book follows the journey just before the discovery to the day in which Montag manages to find somewhere to stay.
Written in the '30s this book is partly similar to 1984. However, despite there being mentions of robotic dogs, voice recognition and walls replaced with large TVs the concept of this story is far from similar to todays world other than that the horrible Kindle is sometimes thought to replace books.
If you're interested in utopia and fucked-up politics with a futuristic twist then this may be a book for you, if not, then still read it anyway. Along with being controversial it is also influntial enough to spawn a band of the same name.
I can't say I'd stand on a rofftop and praise this book like a Messiah but I also wouldn't throw it across the room. A mid-rate I'd say.
Rating: 2.8/5
This is one of those "set in the future" books where the world has changed with weird laws and machines. A somewhat utopian world.
As mentioned, the story is based in a futuristic world in which books are banned and should a book be found a 'fireman' - in this case, a man who goes to the location of the book(s), sprays it/them with kerosene and proceeds to burn the books. We follow the life of Guy Montag, a fireman who, when working catches a glipse of a book and reads "Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine". Mesmerised by these words he decides to keep the book.
Wht follows is a story of a man whom disagrees with these laws and, due to having kept a pile of books is forced into secrecy. However, the day he decides to read out a poem to a group of his wife's friends he is sent into a downward spiral which turns into survival of the fittest.
Having been discovered in posession of a book Montag is forced to escape the city and get away as far he can and this book follows the journey just before the discovery to the day in which Montag manages to find somewhere to stay.
Written in the '30s this book is partly similar to 1984. However, despite there being mentions of robotic dogs, voice recognition and walls replaced with large TVs the concept of this story is far from similar to todays world other than that the horrible Kindle is sometimes thought to replace books.
If you're interested in utopia and fucked-up politics with a futuristic twist then this may be a book for you, if not, then still read it anyway. Along with being controversial it is also influntial enough to spawn a band of the same name.
I can't say I'd stand on a rofftop and praise this book like a Messiah but I also wouldn't throw it across the room. A mid-rate I'd say.
Rating: 2.8/5
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