eBook source: Free from MobileRead (LRF)
Read on: Sony PRS-300
Thoughts
This is a novella that on the surface appears to be a children's story but which covers themes which can be appreciated by adults. All I knew about this story prior to reading it, I learnt from an xkcd comic. I'm surprised that I had never heard of the story earlier because it really is very charming, although I probably would have enjoyed its simple narrative style more when I was a child. On the other hand, I might have been upset at the ending at that time and I probably would not have understood the significance of some of the chapters. My favourite chapter is the one with the fox.
About the eBook
This eBook includes the illustrations (which are essential to this story). It's a pity that most eInk devices only do greyscale at present because many of the illustrations are in colour. This is the translation from French by Katherine Woods, which is out of copyright in Australia, however I believe it is still in copyright in the US.
eBooks read so far: 9
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Strategy for tackling the list
The 1001 list is a moving target - there have already been at least a couple of editions of the 1001 book, with some changes to the list, and a new edition is expected in March next year. Even at my current enthusiastic rate it will take over six years to read my way through the entire list, and it's bound to change again before then.
Many of the older books on the list are considered to be 'classics'. These are the books that are likely to remain on the 1001 list indefinitely. These books are in the public domain, making it easy to find them in eBook form thanks to the work of Project Gutenberg and other digitisation projects. These are the books that I will read first.
As I get closer to my goal, I will move towards the more modern works. Hopefully I'll be able to borrow these from my local library (as the eBook lending program expands), or purchase them as eBooks from one of the online bookstores. My hope is that over the next few years libraries and online book stores will expand their catalogues of eBooks, and that eBook prices will drop as they become more popular. This way I should be able to get through a chunk of the still in copyright part of the list without breaking the bank.
I expect that a small group of books will remain which are not available in eBook form when I come to read them. I will hope that they may eventually be published in e-form as eBooks become ubiquitous.
Many of the older books on the list are considered to be 'classics'. These are the books that are likely to remain on the 1001 list indefinitely. These books are in the public domain, making it easy to find them in eBook form thanks to the work of Project Gutenberg and other digitisation projects. These are the books that I will read first.
As I get closer to my goal, I will move towards the more modern works. Hopefully I'll be able to borrow these from my local library (as the eBook lending program expands), or purchase them as eBooks from one of the online bookstores. My hope is that over the next few years libraries and online book stores will expand their catalogues of eBooks, and that eBook prices will drop as they become more popular. This way I should be able to get through a chunk of the still in copyright part of the list without breaking the bank.
I expect that a small group of books will remain which are not available in eBook form when I come to read them. I will hope that they may eventually be published in e-form as eBooks become ubiquitous.
883. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
eBook source: Free from epubbooks (ePub)
Read on: Sony PRS-300
Thoughts
This is a mystery novel which is notable for being an example of a Victorian-era 'sensation novel'. It was also a bit different in the narrative style, being told from the perspective of several characters through statements and journal entries. I liked this - it helped me to relate to the main characters. After the last couple of books I wasn't sure whether to expect the unexpected, but in this case I was relieved that the story didn't stray too far from where I thought it would go. The story was compelling enough to keep me up reading far too late into the early hours of the morning for a couple of nights.
The bad guy in this book really got under my skin - chauvinistic, cruel, controlling and manipulative. I spent much of the book hoping that the story would take an unpredictable turn and that someone (preferably one of the ladies who were so mistreated by him) would kill him. As with many nineteenth century novels that I have read, I was frustrated because if the characters had communicated openly from the outset and weren't so reserved, restrained or bound by manners, they would never have tolerated Sir Scumbag's behaviour, and would also have avoided most of the dramas and troubles that arose throughout the story.
About the eBook
This was the first eBook I've read that has included linked footnotes. I didn't work out that I could follow them until the last one, but once I did, it was very easy to jump to the notes and back to the text that referenced them using the navigation buttons on the Sony reader.
I thought that I might have had an incomplete eBook when I reached the end because the last line was "let Marian end our Story." which I thought meant that she was about to contribute some concluding remarks, but there was nothing further. However I checked a scan of the book on Google Books and it turns out that this is really how it ends.
eBooks read so far: 8
Read on: Sony PRS-300
Thoughts
This is a mystery novel which is notable for being an example of a Victorian-era 'sensation novel'. It was also a bit different in the narrative style, being told from the perspective of several characters through statements and journal entries. I liked this - it helped me to relate to the main characters. After the last couple of books I wasn't sure whether to expect the unexpected, but in this case I was relieved that the story didn't stray too far from where I thought it would go. The story was compelling enough to keep me up reading far too late into the early hours of the morning for a couple of nights.
The bad guy in this book really got under my skin - chauvinistic, cruel, controlling and manipulative. I spent much of the book hoping that the story would take an unpredictable turn and that someone (preferably one of the ladies who were so mistreated by him) would kill him. As with many nineteenth century novels that I have read, I was frustrated because if the characters had communicated openly from the outset and weren't so reserved, restrained or bound by manners, they would never have tolerated Sir Scumbag's behaviour, and would also have avoided most of the dramas and troubles that arose throughout the story.
About the eBook
This was the first eBook I've read that has included linked footnotes. I didn't work out that I could follow them until the last one, but once I did, it was very easy to jump to the notes and back to the text that referenced them using the navigation buttons on the Sony reader.
I thought that I might have had an incomplete eBook when I reached the end because the last line was "let Marian end our Story." which I thought meant that she was about to contribute some concluding remarks, but there was nothing further. However I checked a scan of the book on Google Books and it turns out that this is really how it ends.
eBooks read so far: 8
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
774. The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton
eBook source: Free from Mobile Read (Sony LRF)
Read on: Sony PRS-300
Thoughts
I thought I'd follow up with another Edith Wharton novel, since Ethan Frome was so short. The House of Mirth follows social-butterfly Lily Bart as she struggles to find her place in the changing scene of turn-of-the-century New York society. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and narrative, but was slightly surprised when the plot started to deviate from the path that I thought it would take at the start of the novel. I enjoyed reading this book very much but it left me feeling a bit grim: perhaps it's best to avoid Wharton's works if you are a fan of cliche happy endings.
About the eBook
The novel was originally published in 1905 with illustrations, and it would have been an added bonus if these were included in the eBook (but it certainly doesn't need them - it's a great read).
eBooks read so far: 7
Read on: Sony PRS-300
Thoughts
I thought I'd follow up with another Edith Wharton novel, since Ethan Frome was so short. The House of Mirth follows social-butterfly Lily Bart as she struggles to find her place in the changing scene of turn-of-the-century New York society. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and narrative, but was slightly surprised when the plot started to deviate from the path that I thought it would take at the start of the novel. I enjoyed reading this book very much but it left me feeling a bit grim: perhaps it's best to avoid Wharton's works if you are a fan of cliche happy endings.
About the eBook
The novel was originally published in 1905 with illustrations, and it would have been an added bonus if these were included in the eBook (but it certainly doesn't need them - it's a great read).
eBooks read so far: 7
Monday, November 16, 2009
757. Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
eBook source: Free from Mobile Read (Sony LRF)
Read on: Sony PRS-300
Thoughts
This is a very sober novella set in turn-of-the-century rural Massachusetts. Winter is somewhat of a novelty to me, living as I do in subtropical Australia, so I loved the descriptions of the bleak, oppressive winter in a sleepy town. Winter dominates the story like a character in its own right, and in mood I was reminded of Robert Frost's Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (my favourite source of mental imagery for deep winter). From the beginning of the story, we know that the title character bears a tragic past, but when the story finally reaches its ironic end, it is truly heartbreaking.
About the eBook
Another high quality eBook from the Mobile Read forums.
eBooks read so far: 6
Read on: Sony PRS-300
Thoughts
This is a very sober novella set in turn-of-the-century rural Massachusetts. Winter is somewhat of a novelty to me, living as I do in subtropical Australia, so I loved the descriptions of the bleak, oppressive winter in a sleepy town. Winter dominates the story like a character in its own right, and in mood I was reminded of Robert Frost's Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (my favourite source of mental imagery for deep winter). From the beginning of the story, we know that the title character bears a tragic past, but when the story finally reaches its ironic end, it is truly heartbreaking.
About the eBook
Another high quality eBook from the Mobile Read forums.
eBooks read so far: 6
Thursday, November 12, 2009
976. A Modest Proposal – Jonathan Swift
eBook source: Free from Mobile Read (Sony LRF)
Read on: computer screen using Calibre viewer
Thoughts
I chose to read this work next because I have been slogging my way through the Tale of Genji all week and thought that a short, satirical piece would be a nice diversion. Swift describes the work as
This is a short story rather than a book (only around 17 pages long). Intellectually I can appreciate the value of the work as social commentary through satire, however I didn't find it amusing and I would not normally choose to read something that makes light of eating infants regardless of its motivations. I found some spellings of words in this work quaint (like publick), however overall it was not an enjoyable read. At least it was a quick one.
About the eBook
Because it was so short, I read it on screen rather than on a dedicated eBook device. There are several free versions of this book available online, and all of the ones that I found were based on the Project Gutenberg text. ManyBooks provides this eBook in a lot of different formats, however the Project Gutenberg information and legal/copyright information is up front in their ePub version, which means having to page through all of that information (which is longer than the work itself) before getting to the real content. I chose to read the MobileRead eBook because it put all of that additional text at the end instead.
eBooks read so far: 5
Read on: computer screen using Calibre viewer
Thoughts
I chose to read this work next because I have been slogging my way through the Tale of Genji all week and thought that a short, satirical piece would be a nice diversion. Swift describes the work as
A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick
This is a short story rather than a book (only around 17 pages long). Intellectually I can appreciate the value of the work as social commentary through satire, however I didn't find it amusing and I would not normally choose to read something that makes light of eating infants regardless of its motivations. I found some spellings of words in this work quaint (like publick), however overall it was not an enjoyable read. At least it was a quick one.
About the eBook
Because it was so short, I read it on screen rather than on a dedicated eBook device. There are several free versions of this book available online, and all of the ones that I found were based on the Project Gutenberg text. ManyBooks provides this eBook in a lot of different formats, however the Project Gutenberg information and legal/copyright information is up front in their ePub version, which means having to page through all of that information (which is longer than the work itself) before getting to the real content. I chose to read the MobileRead eBook because it put all of that additional text at the end instead.
eBooks read so far: 5
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
978. Moll Flanders – Daniel Defoe
eBook source: Free from epubbooks (ePub)
Read on: Sony PRS-300
Thoughts
I was familiar with the story, and expected this to be a bit preachy, but instead found it to be a very engaging read. Although Moll Flanders would have been considered to be a very wicked woman by the standards of her time, she is presented sympathetically as a victim of the circumstances of her life. The story is told in Moll's own voice, so her exploits are described matter of factly, and it gives an insight into what life might have been like for someone in her situation.
Moll's financial situation seems to drive her actions throughout her adult life, and much of the book describes how she acquires money (either through securing husbands/lovers as a means of support or by her own industry). Sometimes I find it difficult to convert how much sums of money mentioned in older works would be worth in today's terms (also I have difficulty with the pounds, shillings, guineas etc because I'm used to dollars). However, this book frequently outlined the price of goods, and even included a breakdown of the costs associated with birthing a child (with various options for levels of service), which made it easy for me to get a feel for the worth of the money (and also put into perspective some of the incomes that I've read in other works such as those by Austen).
About the eBook
I encountered a page error when I tried to read this book on the Sony Pocket reader. I have come across this before with large eBooks (the Sony readers have limits on the size of each chapter). To get around it, I used to Calibre to convert it to lit format, removed the book from my library, added the lit version back to the library and then converted it to ePub. After that I had no trouble and this roundtrip did not seem to cause any harm to the formatting of the eBook.
eBooks read so far: 4
Read on: Sony PRS-300
Thoughts
I was familiar with the story, and expected this to be a bit preachy, but instead found it to be a very engaging read. Although Moll Flanders would have been considered to be a very wicked woman by the standards of her time, she is presented sympathetically as a victim of the circumstances of her life. The story is told in Moll's own voice, so her exploits are described matter of factly, and it gives an insight into what life might have been like for someone in her situation.
Moll's financial situation seems to drive her actions throughout her adult life, and much of the book describes how she acquires money (either through securing husbands/lovers as a means of support or by her own industry). Sometimes I find it difficult to convert how much sums of money mentioned in older works would be worth in today's terms (also I have difficulty with the pounds, shillings, guineas etc because I'm used to dollars). However, this book frequently outlined the price of goods, and even included a breakdown of the costs associated with birthing a child (with various options for levels of service), which made it easy for me to get a feel for the worth of the money (and also put into perspective some of the incomes that I've read in other works such as those by Austen).
About the eBook
I encountered a page error when I tried to read this book on the Sony Pocket reader. I have come across this before with large eBooks (the Sony readers have limits on the size of each chapter). To get around it, I used to Calibre to convert it to lit format, removed the book from my library, added the lit version back to the library and then converted it to ePub. After that I had no trouble and this roundtrip did not seem to cause any harm to the formatting of the eBook.
eBooks read so far: 4
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