Dan’s Comments (group member since Mar 02, 2009)

Dan’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

Patrick wrote: "Well yeah...but the employees and the clerks are usually the front lines of book buying and selling, so I am sure any good companies would listen to them once in a while. The least they can do is t..."

This sounds more like it belongs in a, "i got a personal beef with the employees of bookstores" type of thread and not necessarily in an Ebook thread. Unless of course your argument is that extra passion from minimally paid clerks will save the printed book. If that is in fact your argument I can't say it is a convincing one.

The problems as I see them is not whether eBooks are better/worse to read than regular books or even if they end up replacing regular books (which is possible but would take a long time) but rather with competition and ownership.

It looks like Amazon, Apple and Barnes and Noble are the three biggest players in the battle for Ebook retail supremacy (at least in the US it does). Having only three choices is nearly as bad as having to choose between a republican and a democrat. The more serious competition the better. I just hope the ebookselling landscape doesn't look like the mp3 landscape.

Secondly, the fact that Ebooks are licensed rather than actually owned is a cause for concern. You have no rights as owner of the ebook. Barnes and Noble was praised for saying you can loan an ebook for two weeks at a time (with a max amount of times a title could be lent) but really that is bullshit because it is still a limitation of the first-sale doctrine. It is just a little less bullshit than amazon.

I would definitely think about getting a ebook reader if it's file format was an open format, if I travelled a lot and/or it is pretty cheap. Project Gutenberg has thousands of books in epub format which would be a great way to read many of the public domain works available.

Primarily, the book isn't being replaced (for me) and even if new books are no longer printed, used bookstores will continue on (and possibly grow in popularity) as will Libraries. Most likely the fate of the book will look more like that of vinyl and less like that of the cassette.

Well, it better be ok. I just booked the ticket since it was fairly cheap and there were only a few left.

So, I am looking to get a jump on getting my plane tickets. Is it safe to say if I show up in the bainbridge island ferry the night before the Dork starts I can crash at your place JE?

Michael wrote: "I do declare Mr. Evison, how you do go on ..."

Pops! It's good to see you in these parts again! I do hope you stick around for a while.

I just read my favorite Faulkner Light in August sentence (so far). It's from page 186 in the Modern Library 1950 edition:

It was only as he put his hand on the door that he became aware of the complete silence beyond it, a silence which he at eighteen knew that it would take more than one person to make.

Sorry if this is a bit repetitive but I am fascinated by Joe Christmas' identity. He seems to lie outside of society in all aspects of his being (by choice in many cases). Blacks don't see him as a black person while whites are to accept him until they get mad at him or until it's convenient for themselves (the dietitian & Brown)

Christmas' racial identity (or at least the notion that he could be black) seems to originate from the dietitian's yelling at him when he throws up the toothpaste. This seems to be confirmed when the janitor tries to save him, but it doesn't necessarily make it so.

This notion of blackness seems to aid Christmas in remaining outside of society. Why mention it to Bobbie otherwise?

Even his name, which I find comical, seems to be a mechanism for keeping himself outside of the norm. Isn't it mentioned somewhere that he was presumed to be foreign because of the name? Maybe I am just making that part up.

Oh wow, i have missed a ton of conversation. I am through chapter 6 at this point. I gotta check this thread more often. Sorry for my absence, i'll get to talking soon.

Jimmy wrote: "More reading:

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/12/..."

The issue of ownership versus licensing is one of the largest issues in the ebook world. As a librarian it is even more of an issue with purchasing (licensing) database access. It is almost as if you do not *get* what you pay for.

The trend in ebooks needs to go towards ownership for it to be a fair deal. In the library world Elsevier has a monopoly over a certain range of scientific literature and charge a shitload for access because there is no competition.

It is a scary thing for a library to not be able to gain ownership over a significant part of their acquisitions budget.

Wow, I just read this story tonight. I typically haven't been involved with these short story discussions unless I know I have a paper copy of the story here at home. I happened to have JCO's collection High Lonesome sitting here (where it has sat for a number of years, unread (for some reason)).

At first with the arrival of Friend I got the sense that it wasn't going to be good but it didn't hit me until Connie realized that Friend and Ellie were both older and not kids. That for me is when the terror began.

At this point I read through the story with eagerly and with great speed so I have likely missed a number of things. Perhaps I will read it again after work tomorrow.

w/r/t religion and this story: I have some religious background having attended a catholic school through 5th grade. However I remembering thinking as a fourth grader that it was bullshit and have been an atheist ever since. That being said I always enjoy the biblical influence on literature and this story certainly seems full of it.

All the talk about Connie and her sacrifice I thought reflects Jesus' sacrificing his life for humanity just on a much smaller scale. The thing is that Connie surrenders to the devil which knowing nothing of JCO's beliefs or other works makes me wonder exactly what significance to attribute to Connie's sacrifice.

I think you are definitely onto something Ry when you mention Connie being purposefully the only multidimensional character. This seems to make perfect sense.

The combination of everyone's remarks (and the story itself) leads me to believe that this story was quite consciously crafted as a morality tale.

and as for Ellie I am not quite sure of a reason for his inclusion. Maybe a possibility for his inclusion come to me sometime over the next day or so.

Dude, you need to book at Fort Worden again. I am thinking I will have just enough money to pull off the Dork this year. I was there was some sort of Library Conference/Convention the week you book so I could try to get the college to pick up the tab! But I am pretty sure there isn't anything going on in the late summer.

Careful Ry about giving too much away. I can live with knowing some of the things you typed up but there may be others that consider some of those things "spoilers".

My apologies sir. After wading into the second chapter you seem quite right in the continuation of themes of experiencing. Rather interesting.

Already I am enjoying this conversation. I like the bit about the titling Ryan, if you have more anecdotes be sure and share them!

I have made it through the first chapter quite easily. Already I can tell this isn't going to be like Absalom. I will be able to finish it and I may also enjoy it!

There has been a right smart number of times that Faulkner mentions characters not looking at each other but still "seeing" things. I am definitely interested to see where this goes.

As promised, I checked the book out from my library today.

I will pick up a copy at the library tomorrow when I go into work.

Matt wrote: "I kind of think thier fascination is an obvious by-product of their times (as the authors of today have differing attitudes towards sex fashioned by our times)"

Could this also then be the reason for the bad sex awards in Roth and Updike's later works? Almost as if their exploration/obsession has never matured or better yet, changed with the times.

if it's more accessible than absalom I am down to read it.

Thanks for the review of your reading system Ben. I was wondering how it worked out for you.

My only goal this year was to read more nonfiction which I did (at least 10 books!). Also, if I am not mistaken I read more books (60!) this year than any previous year.

I hope 2010 works out as well. I am going to try to ditch the idea of reading a minimum of 52 books in order to focus better and take on some larger works.

This is a really interesting take on some of the practices of e-book providers and how it can (and will) lead to the death of the book.

http://thevarsity.ca/articles/23855

This is likely expensive, somewhat literary, and really cool.

http://www.ktfineart.com/artists/bria...