Week 11 Prompt: The Medium Affects the Message

This week we’re talking about how different mediums (ebook, audio, etc.) affect the recognized appeal factors that are used in readers’ advisory.

A printed codex book is absolutely still my first and best love, but I also enjoy ebooks and audiobooks so my Amazon.com purchases are many and varied in terms of format.

I have an iPad and a Kindle Fire, but I do the vast majority of my e-reading on a 3^rd generation Kindle.  And here is a fact that has surprised me – I am in love with the near weightlessness of my old Kindle.  Its base fits exactly into my left hand, with thumb and pinky at the front sides, and their fellow fingers supporting the back.  My thumb rests naturally on the page advance button, making page-turning practically effortless      (and conveniently freeing up that right hand to hold a frosty beverage!).  By comparison, the Kindle Fire feels thick and heavy to me.  The iPad is just large enough to sometimes pitch forward or backward in the middle of a sentence, before a wobble of the wrist can bring it back into balance.  These weight and size factors are not deal-breakers, they just take some getting used to.  And the other devices have significant attractions of their own – color display, touch screen, etc.  But there is no denying my preference for good old Kindle 3.  (Your mileage may vary; perhaps I just have a wimpy wrist.)

If something as minor as weight can sway my preference so strongly, I think it’s important to remember that there are many factors related to non-traditional formats that may influence a reader’s experience.  And some of these aspects connect directly to the appeal factors of the text itself.

In ebooks, pacing is affected by the fact that it is sometimes difficult to determine your current progress in terms of pages.  Am I closing in on the end of this chapter?  Of the book?  I’m learning to glance down at the percent bar at the bottom of the page, but that’s not as intuitive as the visual and tangible cues I get when I’m at the beginning, middle, or end of a book.  In her article, “E-books and Readers’ Advisory,” Katie Dunneback points out that even the amount of text visual on the screen (dependent on screen size and customizable font-sizing) can limit a reader’s perception of the content.  “When you see large blocks of texts on the page, this can indicate a description rich story, possibly intended to be a leisurely read . . . Short paragraphs with lots of dialogue can mean snappy or quick-witted characters” (Dunneback, p. 328).  Losing those cues might affect a reader’s interpretation of the story.

A reader’s perception of pacing can also be strongly affected by the narration in audiobooks.  Although most of the audiobooks I’ve experienced have made terrific matches between content and narrator, I have run across a few duds, in my opinion.  The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton by Jane Smiley was read by talented actress Mare Winningham.  My expectations were high but the book dragged so terribly for me that I gave up at the halfway point, something I rarely do.  A friend who read it in book form loved every word of it!  On the other hand, when another friend told me that he was unimpressed by Leif Enger’s Peace Like a River, I was agog.  I had expected a slam dunk victory when I made that suggestion.  He told me that he read it in two sittings, but just never really got engaged in the story.  Several years later the same friend raved about the glories of the book, after listening to the Chad Lowe narration on audio during a car trip.  I don’t think he even remembered that he’d read it previously!  The narrative pacing of the audiobook had transformed the contents for him.

In addition to pacing, the tone of the narration can also affect the tone of the printed words.  (OK, I worded that awkwardly, but you know what I mean.)  Narrators make vocal choices that may or may not match the author’s intent.  This can also be true of the tone individuals readers take when they internalize a story, but the effect is significantly magnified by an external narrator.

In recent years I’ve developed a real taste for audiobooks, and I already have a list of favorite narrators.  The names Mark Bramhall, Kate Reading, Michael Kramer, Cassandra Campbell, Simon Slater, and Karen White will attract me to a book almost as surely as the author’s name.  It seems unlikely that narrators could ever attract readers to a book MORE than the author himself/herself.  Sacrilege!  But then again . . . are we attracted to movies by the screenwriter or by the actors?  Hmmmm. 

References:

Dunneback, K. & Trott, B.  (2011).  E-books and readers’ advisory.  Reference and User Services Quarterly, 50(4), 325-329.