Traditional Turned Digital

A few years ago if you had asked me to choose between ebooks and "real" books I would've probably chosen the latter. Like millions of other bookworms I have an attachment to the written word, ink & paper, fonts and binding. Yet these days if you ask me what I've been doing on the computer all day, 8 out 10 times, I'd answer that I've been reading ebooks.

I first got into ebooks a few years back when I read some book reviews but didn't have the funds to buy a book. I stumbled onto free ebook sites and began to find books I didn't own. Eventually, my growing addiction to anime brought me to manga and reading online became a habit. Given the chance and the money, I still went on book shopping sprees and continued filling my bookshelves with books. However, I moved to Vietnam in 2008 and acquiring printed books was put to a stop. English language novels aren't that common in bookstores here. In fact, I would have to go to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) to find them and even then my choices would still be limited. There are a few secondhand stores here in Vung Tau that sell old English novels, but they mostly are of the dog-eared romance paperback variety. So that's why I now turn to ebooks when I need my daily book fix.

Ebooks are so easy to obtain these days, I have thousands of them in CDs and in my hard drive. I have started uploading them to a 4shared site in case something ever happens. I have also thought about it and for a greener future, this might be a better option than having them on paper. Less trees to cut.

Sometimes I envy people who mention that they just bought a new book... I still miss the smell of books, old or new. I miss touching the pages and rifling through the book for something specific. But ebooks aren't so bad, after all, it's the text that counts. Or so I keep telling myself.

Twilight should have stayed in the dark

I wonder how movies would be if I wasn't so fond of reading books.... would I enjoy screen adaptations more. P.S. I Love You was different from the book, so was The Notebook. The Lord of the Rings was way too long for everything to be translated onscreen.But they were good films. Twilight, on the other hand, pretty much had the scenes from the book --- mapped out quite differently, but, still there --- BUT it sucked. I'll be kind (and believe me I'm often the opposite) and say that it just kinda sucked. As opposed to majorly sucked. But hello.I never thought I'd say this, but a little more cinematic license wouldn't have hurt. Haha, never thought I'd say that. There was a time when I hated my sister for saying that movies are entitled to cinematic license. But now, I realize that for a screen adaptation to actually work they should stick to the heart of the story and play around with the scenes and stuff. Yes, it's fun to see and hear scenes that you've only imagined while reading the book but movies are different from books. they are visual and in my opinion, people should read books when they want to imagine and they should watch movies when they want to see. not just watch a movie so they can see what they imagine. watching Twilight, i felt like i kept on filling in the blanks instead enjoying myself. it reminded me of watching the first two installments of Harry Potter. by the 3rd one (thank god for Christopher Columbus), I could actually sit back and enjoy the film. considering that book three was my favorite, the movie had a lot to live up to. But instead of criticizing (ok, i did criticize it negatively, BUT just a little)i appreciated it as a movie and figured that as long as they stuck to what the book was supposed to be about, it was good. It didn't need a play by play reenactment of the book scenes... that would've been crazy. That's what makes or breaks screen adaptations stick too much to the story and you get glimpses of what the story's supposed to be about. but if you take some liberties, and I mean some, you end up staying true to the story OR at least, end up with a good film. Some adaptations don't have 7 chances you know...

oh well, I'll never know the answer... 24 years is too long for someone to break a habit. reading is more than a hobby for me

On Harry Potter and Rereading Books

Seeing the fifth movie on HBO made me realize how much I enjoyed reading Harry Potter books. Because of that, I decided to reread the whole series and make it last for as long as I could. Instead of going through it as quickly as I usually do, I try to take breaks and stop after several chapters or so.

For people who like reading, would you agree that rereading books are like visiting old friends? Like people I rarely see, I miss almost all the books I’ve read (and believe me, there are a lot of them out there) and I always look forward to reading them again.

Some books aren’t like that. Sometimes when you read books for the umpteenth time, you realize that they aren’t worth your time. They don’t provide as much enjoyment as they used to and you become conscious of the fact they aren’t very well written in the first place. I can’t remember how many times I’ve read this particular series but I hope I never get tired of it.

I was never as crazed about him or the series as much as others were and still are. I don’t think that it’s the best story(ies) I’ve ever read. However, I each time I read the books, I feel like I’m meeting the characters all over again and being told of their stories and included in their everyday life. I think this is a feeling that I’d like to have with the books that I will read in the future. I know it’s a big thing to expect but I hope that it does happen.

***Right now, I’m on Prisoner of Azkaban, which is one of my favorites in the series. Hello, Sirius!***

Be Careful What You Wish For

Coz it just might come true... So they say and that's exactly what I felt about a week ago. You know how I've been going on about going crazy because I don't have enough things to read... Well, I saw this amazing bookshop in Cambodia and freaked. Amazing because I've been depraved (hehe) for so long and amazing because they have a lot of English titles available, original books, too (that's another story). Anyway, I freaked because I hadn't had much choice for so long, and when I faced with rows and rows of English language books, I had no idea what to do and which book to choose. My heart was pounding and I practically couldn't breath. I was such a loser, having a panic attack coz I couldn't choose. My sister and I left without buying a thing. Crazy, ain't it? You wish for something so much, and when you have it in front of you, you have no idea what to do.

I wonder what I'll do when I go to Powerbooks Greenbelt when I get home.

Mumblings of a Deranged Bookwork

"Do you like books? Do you love books? Do you hate books? How many books do you like to read? Who do you like to read a book for? Where do you like to read?"

--- 2 months of teaching EFL classes have reduced my vocabulary and sentence construction to a bare minimum. In addition to that, my average of 40 books per month (excluding e-books and what nots) has become a mere 3.5 and that is only thanks to some abandoned English novels in a backpacker motel in Saigon and my sister, who accidentally left a novel she packed for the flight to and fro Vietnam. I constantly try to engage people in conversations regarding novels and the mention of books makes my heart flutter --- well, maybe that's an exageration --- but come on, 24 years of book addiction did not prepare me for book starvation in a country where a handful speaks and reads English and where the books are almost all translated to their native language.

It's a wonder that self control prevailed and prevented me from bringing out my credit card and purchasing all English language books in Saigon. I had to physically restrain myself from mauling a book peddler (I dunno if other countries have them but they are a constant in Viet Nam's old capital) and it was a good thing that I was broke because if my pockets hadn't been empty --- Oh dear!

I have e-books but they do not satisfy my need for the written word. Sounds like a lot of bull to a discriminating amateur to the world of bookworms --- but quite true in my case. And here ends my mumblings... (Kinda sounds like an epitaph "Here lies the body of Angela, We laid her here because she died of book starvation").