"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
-Clive Staples Lewis

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Crime against Codex?

    The steady, morose, doom impending sound of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Ballet in 4 Acts throbs in my ears. My copy of Dickens's "David Copperfield" stares at me with judging and disappointed eyes. I feel as if I have done a dark and dastardly deed. My soul is torn between excitement and shame. I check my online bank statement again. Yes, I did it. It is right there. $79.00 charge from amazon.com.
Sigh...yes I have purchased a Kindle.
I was pushed over the edge. I am a product of this technological age. I had no chance.
When I saw that C.S. Lewis' "Space Trilogy" was nice dollars cheaper to purchase as a Kindle version, plus no shipping, I staggered. When I pushed my computer to block my view of aforementioned Dickens book and secretly clicked the button to see what amazon prime included, I broke. (a free trial of amazon prime comes with the Kindle purchase) I added to cart. I chose my payment options. I verified my shipping address. I then chose my FREE 2 DAY SHIPPING!
I stepped over Rufio's line drawn in the sand.
I am sure people have had this same experience in the past. The day in 330 A.D. when a weeping Roman laid aside his last scroll of "The Aeneid" and started to read from a codex. The day in 3000 B.C. when an Egyptian dropped his stone plates into the Nile and picked up his new copy of "The Mummy" written on papyrus. I am not the first or the last I shouldn't wonder, to commit Literary Adultery. The punishment will not fit the crime. That anti-glare screen will be pretty great.

3 comments:

  1. Oh, Nate this is funny.....I knew you were going to cave at some point after watching you use ours and exclaim at all the free classics you could get! Enjoy it!!! By the way, did you know that a lot of books can be shared? If we buy a book that we think you might like we can let you "borrow" it. It doesn't work for all books, but right now kel has a book you might like about the Seals.

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  2. disappointed in you. i thought you were better than this.

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  3. I laughed when I read this. Well done. How do you like the Kindle? I've been wavering over the decision myself.

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