The weekend is almost here and I seem to have an accumulation of links and things to share so this will be a bit of a mix of fonts and e-books.
A few more fun font things. I neglected to mention in my post about Just My Type by Simon Garfield that I came across the best name ever. The English printer William Caxton had a young helper who eventually took over his press. The man’s name was Wynkyn de Worde. I couldn’t make up a name like that if I tried. He was supposedly quite a good typographer. Have some fun with a little quiz and find out What Type Are You? I got Universal and while I have never used it before, I thought it looked quite nice. And for those of you with smartphones, you can get an app called WhatTheFont that will supposedly help you identify fonts in your daily meanderings about town. And some font humor thanks to Richard from Marks in the Margin, pleaase enjoy 20 Cats as Fonts.
A thoughtful post at the New York Review Blog, E-books Can’t Burn. Here’s a passage to make e-book fans and print fans both pause and think:
The e-book, by eliminating all variations in the appearance and weight of the material object we hold in our hand and by discouraging anything but our focus on where we are in the sequence of words (the page once read disappears, the page to come has yet to appear) would seem to bring us closer than the paper book to the essence of the literary experience. Certainly it offers a more austere, direct engagement with the words appearing before us and disappearing behind us than the traditional paper book offers, giving no fetishistic gratification as we cover our walls with famous names. It is as if one had been freed from everything extraneous and distracting surrounding the text to focus on the pleasure of the words themselves. In this sense the passage from paper to e-book is not unlike the moment when we passed from illustrated children’s books to the adult version of the page that is only text. This is a medium for grown-ups.
Calling e-books a medium for grown-ups is a bit much, but I found the idea that e-books offer a more direct engagement with words intriguing. True or not? I don’t know. I can say that whether I am reading a paper book or on my Kindle, after a paragraph or two I don’t notice what I am holding in my hand, I notice only the story. And isn’t that how it should be?
If you are a library e-book borrower and you notice that e-book offerings aren’t quite what they used to be, that’s because Penguin pulled its books from OverDrive. OverDrive is the digital content service that a great many public libraries use to provide digital audiobooks and e-books to patrons. Random House is currently the only one of the Big Six publishers that offers a general use license to libraries for e-books. All the others either don’t allow library lending of e-books at all or make the library buy a new license after 26 “check-outs.” Yet all of these publishers claim they love libraries. Huh, could have fooled me.
I adored the ‘What type are you’ site! What a find.
I’m Archer hairline, and it really is lovely. Thanks for the tip!
I take issue with Park’s claim that reading an e-book offers a more “direct engagement” and is closer to the “essence of the literary experience” than the paper book. Here is is speaking for himself. I feel just the opposite and I know I’m not alone. The issue is important and at the very least calls for some research, however, difficult that might be.
With regard to Penguin’s move to pull all of its books from Overdrive, all I can say is what goes around comes around….this is one of those moves that demonstrate a shortsightedness that has so often dominated the publishing industry. Look at how they have treated Nancy Pearl….
katkasia, glad you liked it! Now I’m going to have to go look up what Archer Hairline to see what it looks like
Richard, it is a dubious claim. I see no reason why it can’t happen with any format of a book, not just an e-book, and in my experience it does. It does make a nice antidote to the likes of Franzen and the others who have spoken of late about how anyone who reads e-books is somehow less. I don’t know why these readers with big voices have to draw a line and take sides. I think most readers don’t really care as long they have a good book to read.
Becky, there is not a little shortsightedness in Penguin’s and most of the other publisher’s decisions. It also makes them come off as greedy, not good PR. What happened between Nancy Pearl and Penguin? I haven’t heard anything about that!
I tend to feel that paper-print books showcase a story, providing an attractive frame around it. But I do think it’s a case here of each to their own. If the ereader makes reading a more intense experience for some, then great! Whatever works is good.
I loved the What Type Are You link! I am Baskerville Italic…and I love it! The phrenologist’s little explanation of Baskerville Italic even suits me to a “T”. (A Baskerville Italic T). I spent part of yesterday trying to down load a book to my Kindle via Overdrive. I think I have to go into the library and get some help from the librarian, though. I couldn’t make it work. When it was time to read in bed yesterday, I read some of Solitary Summer on my Kindle (I had downloaded it a couple of months ago, but after your post I really wanted to read it) and then picked up the huge tome, The Complete Sherlock Holmes With Original Illustrations. The Kindle was easier to hold, but the Holmes smelled very book-y – and therefore was a tad more satisfying. But I love both methods of delivery.
I don’t agree with his sentiments, surely that’s the case for any method of delivering the written word. I don’t care whether it’s electronic or paper. Although, I still prefer paper rather than my Kindle, perhaps that’s a romantic tinged view, maybe it’s nostalgia but I enjoy the idea of entering a new place between the bindings. Reading a paper book creates a sensation, for me, of creating a mental bond between me and the book itself. The sensation of the paper, the smell, the type, the binding, the way the paper feels under your thumb, the process of turning the page; this all creates an emotional attachment.
Now, I think the Kindle is a brilliant piece of kit and really, there’s far too many “which is better”…can we just use both?
Oh and I’m Archer Hairline
I had no idea that Penguin did that–how nasty. And here my library is getting ready to move forward on DDA–demand driven access for ebooks–though the Penguin move wouldn’t really affect us being an academic library. It would seem libraries and ebooks are a messy business.
The quote here reminds me of Roland Barthes’ essay “The Death of the Author”… the text is the thing, nothing else. But IMHO, a book is more than the text/words inside. Anyway, the debates continue. As for Overdrive, I’ve downloaded it to my iPhone. But the frustrating fact is, there’s only 1 copy, at most 2, that I can download from our public library, which means, I can hardly find a book that’s available.
Litlove, exactly, whatever works!
Grad, oh Baskerville Italic, very elegant! I hope you were able to get the Overdrive book onto your Kindle. And I hope you are enjoying Solitary Summer. Sherlock Holmes sounds like fun. It is nice to have the ease and convenience of a variety of formats. Some books beg to be read on paper and others are format agnostic. Choice is good
Damned Conjuror, I agree, can we just have both and not try to privilege one over the other. It is just silly. I wonder if there was much ballyhooing about format when scrolls changed to the codex and manuscripts changed to printing press. Another Archer Hairline. It appears to be a rather elegant serif font.
Danielle, I know, isn’t that just mean? It won’t have an effect on academice libraries but it certainly will make things more difficult for public libraries.
Arti, I’ve never been much for the whole death of the author idea. I don’t think author, culture, or text can be separated from each other. Just wait until we don’t even have to read words anymore and whole books are pumped directly into our brains. Won’t that be a big debate! As for e-books, the way publishers for an artificial scarity in regards to a library having only “one” copy to check out drives me nuts. There should be no waiting for e-books.
I took the “What Type are You” quiz. That was a fun link. It said I was dot matrix!