Category Archives: Books

Ebooks that change the way we write

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This article made me really think about all of the different ways that ebooks can impact writing. Ebooks gather so much data from users each time they pick up a book. Ebooks provide the exact data of how a reader interacts with a text like where they stop, where they read quicker or slower, and what they reread. What if readers statistically lost momentum in a book around page 150? Then the publisher could take this exact data into consideration and add a plot twist. Or what about personalized ebooks? Much like the advertisements on the sidebar of Facebook, ebooks could be individually targeted at consumers.

Ebooks: Just Another Book

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I know an awful lot of people who think strongly one way or the other on the debate of e-books vs. print books: which is better to read? Most of my friends are conservatives on this issue: they prefer the printed book citing arguments of sentimental nostalgia. They like to curl up with a book, draw in their margins, and smell them. On the other hand, my friends who like e-books favor the new technology for its convenience and low cost. My novelist friend enjoys the ability to quickly send and receive drafts to peer edit, creating an effective virtual community.

Though you may see yourself on one side or the other, I believe that both sides find common ground in what they look for in the reading experience. Those who covet ebooks are not looking for an experience wholly different from reading print books. One study finds that most people favor an interface that mimics the print book design.  We tend to enjoy ebooks that relive the familiarity of print books, which at this time, about everyone living considers the default. However, the added bells and whistles of ebooks are attractive. The ability to search and reach any point in the text immediately is invaluable to a researcher. Possibilities to quickly open apps like dictionaries are also valuable. Though ebooks offer these new applications, I believe the presentation will resemble its print father for a long time.

People of the Book

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I went to the writer talk today with no prior knowledge on Geraldine Brooks. Her talk was both witty and insightful. I was actually reminded of our class when she started to describe how she was inspired to write the book “People of the Book”. She was sparked by the mystery behind a Hebrew codex known as Sarajevo Haggadah. Little is known about the owners of the book other than it was saved from destruction twice by Muslims and once by a catholic priest.

Once Brook had her topic, she went to see the actual text itself as it was in a state of preservation. She described getting an epiphany as the preserver removed little fragments from the pages such as a hair or an insect’s wing and saving them. Each of these small tidbits were clues to the history of this book. Brooke decided that while we may never know the true path of the Sarajevo Haggadah, she could create a story and allow these clues to lead into her story. This really made me think of all the time our class spent looking at books and important documents, such as the slave emancipation documents. Each of these documents has a history and clues much like the ones Brook keys into to.

Back to what is a Book?

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I was recently reading in my educational psychology book for class when i came across this quote: “In early research, psychologists assumed that people create concepts based on rules about defining attributes, or distinctive features. For example, books all contain pages that are bound together in some way” (Woolfolk 299). This got me thinking about eBooks; surely there is no binding of those. However, going back to our last book viewing, not all of those works we saw were bound either. Perhaps in this case, binding is meant in a less literal sense. As books can be bound by story line, content, characters, and or style, as opposed to only being bound physically. But again it is still up for interpretation.

“In Defense of the Liberal Arts”

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Last week, I submitted my essay that analyzed how the Copyright Act of 1710 and Age of Enlightenment gave authors extrinsic incentives to publish their works. Society ultimately benefits from the discourse that their literature inspires.

After watching this TEDxWhitehorse talk today, I realized that I undervalued the power of literature. In the essay, I touched on how authors could critique political and religious institutions or comment on the flaws in society. Literature, however, is more powerful than just critiques. Rather, we learn about ourselves by identifying with characters.

Judah Pollack, the speaker in the video, describes how he works with soldiers who return home from war. Oftentimes, they feel misunderstood. Ulysses in The Odyssey becomes a relatable character who helps them recover. Another classic, Candide, is still important to readers because “we still recognize ourselves in the mirror of [Voltaire’s] characters and their concerns, as if we would not be surprised to encounter Candide or Cunegonde on the streets of Manhattan today” (Wright).

I want to end with the following quote from Pollack’s presentation because I think it sums up everything well and is thought provoking.

“Pirates used to plunder gold and now they steal stories. Stories are actually more valuable than gold…Stories are the swords we use to slay our dragons. Narrative is the tool we use to understand ourselves and the world. If you don’t share your story with someone, you can never truly be seen. If you don’t share your scars with someone, you can never truly be known.”

Another video series where Pollack incorporates ideas about copyright and literature into everyday life. Video 1 Video 2 Video 3 I particularly like his analysis using Voltaire and Candide: “In many ways, Voltaire gave us the answer about how to mature out of childhood.”

Lab Assignment

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During part 3 of “The History of the Alphabet”, I was surprised to learn that there are modern scribes. Initially it came as a shock that there are people today who would chose to participate in such tedious work. However, it later made sense when considering that, like many other obsolete technologies, it has survived due to transitioning into an art form. Arguably, modern scribes have it tougher than those who lived during the Middle Ages. As the video says, they often now work independently on all of their projects, unlike the scribes of the Middle Ages who worked in larger teams. Other interesting facts included the concept of using a knife to “erase” ink off of a piece of parchment.

Other than that, the video was great for reinforcing the topics discussed in class and the readings. Several main points in the video, such as the part discussing the different route that Italian fonts took from north German fonts, were also heavily discussed in The Book. So, this video essentially summarized what we have been doing these past few weeks.

Cell phones

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When were talk about the printing press, it is hard for us to imagine a time before it because it precedes us by many decades. However, while the cell phone is a pretty recent device, it is hard for us to imagine life without it. I often wonder how texting and tweeting has impacted the way we read and write. I found the artist book that came out of the cell phone relevant and interesting to this conversation. In Japan, in 2007, a new “genre” of books emerged. According to this article this was the creation of the cell phone novel. Additionally this reminds me of a young adult novel I admittedly read that was written as a long text message conversation. It is interesting to think that if you traveled back in time and gave the texting book to someone it would be like a foreign language to them.

Making of a Renaissance Book

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Yesterday I watched the first part of making a Renaissance Book. I was not aware of all of the craftsmanship that went into creating one small type letter. When the narrator was explaining all of the different parts of the letter mold the list of parts consisted of many more items then I had anticipated. It is so easy to change fonts in a word document or even to download a new font from the web. I definitely take this action for granted. I never really considered how the first type was created or the fact that someone had to invent all of the different styles and sizes of fonts we use today.

make time to read

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I was recently just browsing the internet when I came across this article.  I think it is a really cute article about reading and making time for it.  One of the recommendations for making time for reading is to add it to your schedule.  I think that while it sounds ridiculous to schedule reading, today its almost necessary.  With our lives becoming increasingly more busy, I think that we often find ourselves saying we will make an effort to read yet we never actually do so.  I then came across this article which outlines why we as humans need to read.  The article states, “But perhaps even more significant is its emotional role as the starting point for individual voyages of personal development and pleasure.” I think that sadly, many people view reading more as a chore than an experience.

The Making of a Renaissance Book

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Before beginning the short, 20 minute documentary, The Making of a Renaissance Book, I mentally prepared myself for what I believed would be an extremely boring video experience.  Much to my surprise, I found the documentary to be more interesting than I thought it would be. The documentary is in black and white giving it an older, more almost vintage, feel. The music they play throughout the documentary is enough to give you a headache, making me at times, want to turn it off.  The documentary really shows you how precise and time consuming making the letters that are to be used in printing is.  Until seeing craftsmen carve out the letters, I hadn’t realized just how time consuming the process is.  This made me appreciate all the books we saw at class.  When we went to EPI we only printed a sheet.  We didn’t have to lay out the letters which is also a time consuming process.  Until seeing this video, I hadn’t given as much thought to the process of making the letters as I had to other aspects of printing.  Craftsmen had to neatly and precisely create letters of different sizes and fonts.  Today, we simply just type away on our computers, just as I am doing now, with a multitude of fonts and sizes to choose from.  I always took this for granted.