“But I, who knew him so well, could clearly see that his thoughts were elsewhere, and I detected a mixture of mingled uneasiness and expectation beneath that mask which he was wont to assume.”
– Arthur Conan Doyle, The Return of Sherlock Holmes
I’ve been leery of ebooks for a while. I simply can’t afford an e reader, and saw no need to install a reading app on my phone as I generally could buy my books for quite cheaply (the advantage of usually reading old, unpopular fantasy books is that they generally come quite cheap). Sadly there are some books which are simply not available as paperbacks, or are just too expensive to get hold of as paperback. So I finally caved and became the last person on the planet to install an e reader on my phone.
I quickly set about spending money I didn’t have on some books I’d been ogling for a while. Amazon one click is the devil. I first download a couple of m/m books I’d had my eye on- Dark Soul and The Only Gold. I’ve only gotten round to reading the former, which wasn’t much of a chore as this book was short. For the price I paid I expected a lot more, and I feel a little cheated. It was a good book, don’t get me wrong, I loved it actually, but I won’t be picking up the sequels. No way am I spending so much on something so short. As for The Only Gold, well, I’ve read such good reviews about it that I’m almost afraid of reading it- what happens if I end up disappointed? I’ve got such high expectations. So I’ll read it later.
I’ve also been taking advantage of the free classics. After watching the musical the Phantom of the Opera I was thinking of getting the book so I was pleased to find it available for free as an ebook. The book is very different from the musical. I remember sitting turning to my sister during the break of the musical and remarking “so are we supposed to be rooting for Christine and the phantom here?” in disbelief, or something along those lines, but whereas the musical was certainly not a love story like I had mistakenly thought, the book is even less so. It seems to be told from the point of a view of someone researching into the mystery of the ‘opera ghost’, and is written like a mystery with a touch of romance and horror. The writing is clunky, and hard to follow, with moments of startling beauty and intensity. Christine remains selfish and annoying, and Raoul is even whinier and more immature in the book, but the phantom is even more fascinating. After the end of the musical I came away with a certain love for the strange, unstable character and the book re-enforces it.
I also downloaded The Return of Sherlock Holmes and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. My only experience with Sherlock Holmes was the first season of the BBC series, which I liked but didn’t love. But I loved the Sherlock Holmes books. Holmes is another fascinating character, much like the phantom and, again like the phantom, you can see why they become so famous and so beloved. And Watson and his constant admiration of Holmes, and all his little observations of the man, is just lovely, and its clear why that spawned such a large fanfic base. XD I wonder if Holmes is really such a likeable character, or I just like him because of the way that Watson so carefully and affectionately describes him. XD I bought the complete collection for a grand total of 77p, and I’ve been reading them on and off when I don’t feel like reading anything heavier. They’re good fun.
So I’m enjoying my new ‘kindle’, and the books that its made available to me. The kindle android interface is nice and I like how instead of having to physically write quotes down, or take a picture of the page, I can just highlight sentences or paragraphs that I enjoy, or I can bookmark an entire ‘page’ when I enjoy a certain section. I like how portable it is too. I’ve been getting more reading done as I can read on my phone in the breaks between lectures (and OK, sometimes in especially boring lectures too!). Although I still prefer physical books. Reading on my tiny cell phone screen hurts after a long period of time. I’ve long been reading fanfic on my phone so I am used to ignoring that pain, but then I usually read shorter works on my phone, and leave longer works for my computer. I lay down for a Sherlock Holmes readathon for an afternoon and by the end my eyes were tired in a way they wouldn’t be if I was reading books. For certain reasons I may not be able to take any physical books to uni next year so I’m worried about what I will do. I had thought I could use my phone in aeroplane mode as a ‘kindle’ but it turns out that isn’t as great in theory. hmm :/