Wicked Weez of the West

A two-part review.

I’d been reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (by Stieg Larsson) on my Kindle for the past three months, and finished two weeks ago while on the train in the middle of moving apartments. It was the first book I downloaded after Rich bought me a Kindle in October 2009, but it had been on my “to read” list for over a year (according to Goodreads). I was really excited about reading this book, but hadn’t found time to dedicate to it in the lead up to moving to Japan. And after I arrived, I was pretty busy getting my life sorted out. So it’s only been recently that I’ve had the pleasure of getting lost, once again, in a novel.

I started work mid-January, and suddenly found myself having up to a 90 minute commute to and from work each day which seemed like the perfect time to read. In fact, 1/3 of the people catching public transport here read (books, comics, newspapers), another 1/3 spend time on their phone (text, email, watching TV)/PSP/DS/MP3Player, and the other 1/3 take that extra time to sleep (I’ve done them all at some stage). But almost every time I whipped out the Kindle, I received several sideways glances. Admittedly, it does have a Gelaskin on the back, so that could be it. But even when I was sitting next to people, they would watch in awe as the pages magically disappeared and reappeared as new text.

So the first part of this two-part review is on the Kindle, Amazon’s eBook reader.

I like technology. Sometimes I love it. But I wouldn’t say I’m in any way an expert. This is basically a disclaimer indicating that what I’m about to say is probably not based on any technological facts, but merely my personal point of view

Let me first start by admitting that, from the onset, I hated the Kindle. I’ve always loved reading, and assumed that there was some link between the pleasure you derive from reading the story, and the ritual of holding a book and turning the pages. I felt that the Kindle was the Antichrist of books, and there’d be no way it could ever replace them, let alone me ever considering purchasing said demonic implement. I had also never enjoyed spending any length of time reading off a screen, so doubted this would be anything less than painful on a Kindle too.

But you don’t always get to be high and mighty in your house of judgement. No, sometimes your amazing boyfriend decides that, because he loves you, and because he also loves all things new in the gadgety world, he will buy you (and himself) a Kindle as soon as it’s released in Australia. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, you thank him while expressing mild concern at it’s usefulness, or apparent lack thereof.

He assures you it will be great. It will change the way you look at books. It will be fabulously perfect for you while you’re travelling (he had me there). And as usual, he was right.

So the biggest plus for me is the fact the Kindle can store in excess of 1,500 titles. By carrying this 300g device with you, you could essentially have access to your entire library. No more having to choose which book to take with you on the plane (or train, or long car journey), because it’s inconvenient to have to carry more than one heavy book. Especially if you’re fussy (like me), and you don’t always feel like reading the same book you were reading yesterday – how can you possibly tell what sort of mood you’re going to be in 8 hours into a 19 hour flight? What happens if you get in the mood, and all you have is the latest Neal Stephenson? Hardly mood-enhancing material there.

I’m currently reading 11 books, 4 of which are paperbacks sitting on the bookshelf in Rich’s apartment, that I won’t get to finish until I’m back in Perth. But the other 7, along with several other reference books and samples, are automagically available at the press of a button on my Kindle. I can access them at any time, anywhere I go. And no more worrying about having a bookmark, or losing my page, because the Kindle remembers the last page you were on for every book you’re reading. It also has the ability to add a bookmark (again, at the press of a button), in case you’re showing someone how awesome your new toy is, and you’re moving between the pages.

Which brings me to my next point: navigation. The Kindle has “Next Page” buttons on both sides of the device, in a position where you’d find yourself naturally placing your thumbs. It’s very convenient for someone like me, who often ends up on peak-hour trains without a seat. So regardless of whichever hand is holding on for dear life, and whichever hand is holding the Kindle, I can always turn the page. Now of course there are other buttons that do other things, like: Home, Back Page, Menu etc. But they’re pretty standard, and not terribly exciting, so there’s no need for me to talk about them, is there?

It also has a built-in dictionary, so while reading a book (or if you just happen to want to know the definition of a word such as somnambulism), you simply push the joystick down so the cursor is visible on the page, then it navigate to the word you’re not sure about, and it will display the definition of the word. Brilliant! You can also add highlights or notes to any part of the book. This would definitely come in handy while reading educational texts and reference books, or if you just happen to like making notes while reading.

Weirdo.

Without a doubt, having access wireless access to Amazon.com makes the whole process a lot easier. Once you turn wifi on, you can search for, and download, every book a lot of books on Amazon.com. And the books are usually delivered to you within 60 seconds! If you prefer, you can also download the eBook to your computer, and transfer to the Kindle via USB cable. Unfortunately, the availability of books is location-dependent, so not every country has access to the same books (boo!). But there are ways around this, and I honestly don’t understand why the author, or Amazon, wouldn’t want your money for their product. If you know why certain titles aren’t available as a Kindle book in every country they’re available for sale as a paper book, please let me know

There are plenty of other great features, but I’d bore you with too many more. Although I will just say that it is very easy to read off. Not once have my eyes become sore after reading for hours at a time. And if you do have poor eyesight, you can easily change the font size at the press of a button. Oh, also, the battery life is amazing. It lasts for up to two weeks on one charge. That’s with wifi turned off, and light use throughout the day. So with regular use, it’d be closer to a week. Imagine if you only had to charge your iPod once every week or so? We can only dream…

Now on to the book! As I mentioned, I’d been wanting to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for a while, and I’d heard quite a bit about it, so my expectations were high. Admittedly, it was a bit hard to get into at first. It took me several chapters to really figure out the writing style. There are two main characters – Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist; and Lisbeth Salander, a punk savant – with several minor ones along the way. And the story is told from multiple points of view at any given time. Once I had that figured out, it all started to flow really well.

I guess I’d call it a murder-mystery of sorts. There’s a lot of detective work, a fair amount of technology, and enough sex to keep you satisfied (well, almost). Mikael is asked to uncover the 40 year old mysterious disappearance of Harriet Vagner, who belonged to one of Sweden’s wealthiest families. The plot he uncovers takes you on quite a journey, and it ended up being one of those books I couldn’t put down! I’m giving it

I’m now reading the sequel: The Girl who Played with Fire, and it’s also proving to be a great read.

If you have any questions about the Kindle, please ask, and I’ll do my best to answer them!