New York Times asks: Does the Brain Like E-Books?

(source)

Is there a difference in the way the brain takes in or absorbs information when it is presented electronically versus on paper? Does the reading experience change, from retention to comprehension, depending on the medium?

The War of the Worlds

"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences great than man's," begins H. G. Wells' classic, The War of the Worlds. Since the book first came into my hands in Junior High, it has been the bane of my existence. I could not - or that would not - complete the book due to the manner in which it was written. Classic literature always had - and still has - that effect on me. The dull prose and lengthy narrative that seems to be ongoing. Shame on me, I'm an English major.

But after all these years of only reading that first sentence and sighing exasperatingly, I picked up a copy - where my original went to is still unknown to me - and I shall add, a cheap copy at that. It's one of the many reasons why I love Dover Thrift Editions (book only cost me a buck).

After all these years of attempting, I'm finally man enough to read the entire book - consisting of 145 pages, but was read like it contained 1145. And while it's not my cup of tea, it's one of best sci-fi novels I've read all year (considering the fact that the last sci-fi novel I read was 3001: The Final Odyssey).

The novel's split into two books: The Coming of the Martians & The Earth under the Martians. The first book accounts the invasion seen through the eyes of a man who was there when it was underway. He saw when the Martians fired their cylinders from their red planet and was there to witness as it opened after smashing into the earth. He saw the Heat Ray kill his friends and neighbors and then the entire country side of London. He also jumps into the story of his brother and what he saw in London during the final days of the attack. The second book returns to our narrator's story and the days during and after the invasion.

It isn't the greatest read of sci-fi (oh how we have accomplished so much since the days of Wells), but it is a noteworthy read - recommended highly if you're a sci-fi geek. And its universal appeal has not waned nor do I feel will it ever.

It isn't far fetched to see that the Martians can still symbolize the grotesque nature of human warfare, or the fact that we, with our "primitive" arms and military formations, are no match for a more advanced society. Even after all these years, reading the book as an analogy of any invasion of a Free-World invading a third-world country is still relevant. It's possibly the only reason why I continued reading the book in the first place.

Homer & Langley

They were found dead amongst their collected junk - bales of newspapers, crates, bicycles, worn clothing and guns, to name of few - the Collyer brothers are iconic American pack rats that spark imagination within us. What went on behind those shuttered windows, the booby traps and bolted doors? What lives did these living ghosts live? What drove them to collect articles of junk to store in their homes?

E. L. Doctorow, author of Lives of Poets, takes a creative crack at the secret lives of the Collyer brothers through the eyes (no pun intended) of the blind, younger brother Homer.

I first learned of Doctorow's masterpiece, Homer & Langley, through a piece written in Esquire entitled "Two Great New Books on a New Kind of Apocalypse." The review covered both Doctorow's novel and Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem, stating:

Both novels make a reader ache for a city long gone. But they also let us know that the end of the world as we know it may only be the end of the world as we know it. What's truly scary is not that life will end but that it will continue in ever reduced circumstances.

It is in these circumstances that we find the Collyer brothers as Homer pounds away at the Braille typewriter Langley obtained for him, chronicling the story of their lives. Here are two men who have been through it all. Older brother Langley was returned back from the Great War as damaged goods only to learn that their parents had died during his abscence and his younger brother has taken up with a thieving maid. As the world ended for them, their lives continued on as relics from the past.

They go through life as ghosts of the past, becoming more transparent and phantom like with each passing year. Failing to establish any significant human connection with those around them, they hide away as older brother Langley begins to collect newspapers in order to prove a theory that the world works on replacements (i.e. children are replacements to their parents). Oddly enough, it isn't until the end that the question arises: Who will replace them?

Naturally, Doctorow takes historical liberties with his novel. In reality, Homer was the older of the two and they both died in 1947, whereas Doctorow extends their lives by at least 30 years. The book is superb, being the first novel I ever read by the author. It has the ability to wrap you in its webs, imagine the world that these brothers lived in and leaves trembling in its narration.

Nueva Onda Poets return

After a few months' slumber, the Nueva Onda Poets returned to the Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library for a reading. The spotlight reader was Richard Sanchez (photographed above) who also acted as the MC for the rest of us. Some new faces were in the crowd, as well as, a few original readers. It was like a family reunion.

Richard read a few of his pieces and gave out copies of the May/June issue of The Journal of Texas Trophy Hunters, which contains his story (or can we call it an essay?), "El Diablo."

I read a "chilling" story, loosely based on a story my grandfather told me when I was a kid. It's a work in process, but I managed to get out a clean copy for the reading.

In other news, because I arrived early to the library, I camped in a corner (where the DVDs are - why there's a couch where the DVDs are is beyond me) and thumbed through Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow. A few pages in, I decided to check it out.

Because I turned in No Country for Old Men late, I was prepared myself to pay a fine. Oddly, I didn't get one. Didn't faze me much, but I did recall my annoyance with myself for turning it in late in the first place.

I'm sure the book will be devoured before the the two weeks. See you then.

Required Reading: Can We Stop Acting So Childish? By Stephen Marche

I think we all remember the photo above and the outcry it caused, reverbrated across the nation - the world, even. "Innocent" Miley Cyrus, who could do no wrong, who wouldn't ever (EVER!) dance around on a stripper pole while her mother and father applaud from the audience, was stripped down and photographed against her will. But during our outrage (meaning your), we have forgotten that we're reponsible, in a way. When you think about it, we're forcing child celebrities into growing up way before their time, leading them into lives that we couldn't even handle. So from within the crowd, Stephen Marche's voice resonates, asking if we can just grow up already:

"Can We Stop Acting So Childish?" By Stephen Marche

With teenage celebrities entering rehab and adult celebrities acting like teenagers, the line between adolescence and adulthood has never been more blurred.

It is possible that as you read these words one of the great works of art of our time is being destroyed. The film version of "Where the Wild Things Are"--with a screenplay cowritten by the Coolest Writer in America (Dave Eggers), directed by the Coolest Director Alive (Spike Jonze), and starring the Coolest Actors Ever (Forest Whitaker and Catherine Keener)--has had its release date set back a year, apparently after disastrous test screenings, to undergo massive reshooting. The original "Where the Wild Things Are," the children's story by Maurice Sendak, is one of the most beloved tellings of one of the dominant narratives of our era: the child who suffers the perils of adulthood. It's a story that has to be told without wavering. (continue reading)

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Snapshot #1

House of Incest - Anaïs Nin

Today Was a Good Day

Hunt: Hastings buy 2 get 3rd for $1 deal
Partner: Jyg, Izzy, Esmer & Esteban
Location: Hastings McAllen, TX
Success: 3/3
Cost: $17.30
Condition: Used
Saved: $26.97

The hunt was rather impromptu. We had headed out to Hastings merely to hang out with Esmer and Esteban. We strolled around for a while and that's where I saw a copy of The Golden Ass on the newly arrived used shelf. Because I had read about the book back in college - possibly through my extensive research on the subject of sexual nature - I decided to thumb through it. I nearly set it down until I saw the deal. So I quickly looked for two more books, finding both The Delta of Venus and Little Birds by Anaïs Nin. I have the former, an ratty old hardback, sitting on my sex shelf - yes, I have a sex shelf - I decided that owning Little Birds might be a good thing for me. I took that along. I searched the shelf until tiring after not finding anything remotely interesting. I headed down the aisles, not sure what I was looking for when Cities of the Red Night by William S. Burroughs jumped out at me. I'm a Burroughs fan so it was only obvious that it was coming with me regardless.

So in the end, I had the three books I needed to complete the sale. Awesome, though I should really stop spending money when the cash flow isn't coming in anymore. I'm so bad at this.

1. Cities of the Red Night - William S. Burroughs
2. Little Birds: Erotica - Anaïs Nin
3. The Golden Ass - Apuleius translated by Jack Lindsay

After ringing up the purchase, The Golden Ass turned out to be my dollar book. I also saw a copy of God Hates Us All, leaving me to wonder if a fictional book from a TV series is actually worth the read. Who am I kidding? Sooner or later Hank Moody's opus will be sitting on my shelf because I'm in love with Californication.

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Required Reading: Erring and Erring, We Walk the Unerring Path

"Erring and Erring, We Walk the Unerring Path" from Shambhala Sun.

Across much of the nation and the world, people have been losing their jobs and homes due to the global economic decline. Everyone is asking: how much worse will it get; how soon before it gets better? The ghost of the Great Depression hangs over us like a bad dream that scares and fascinates at the same time. Meanwhile, the bickering of politicians entertains and annoys us nightly.

Required Reading

I started something on my Tumblr in hopes to boost readership with like minds. The Required Reading tag, however, only piqued the interests of those already following and reblogging me. The Required Reading tag consists of magazine articles, short stories, poems, novels and website articles/blogs that I find influenital, amusing and entertaining. They are opiniated and witty all the same.

Because my main goal when I set out to write a blog about "book hunting" was to gain some new acquaintances, I believe that the required reading tag should venture into the blog as well. Maybe bringing a few stragglers by to share my likes, dislikes or disagree with me.

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The books on my desk

Forgive the mess and my excess use of my newly purchased digital camera, with which I'm in love. I decided to shed some light in to my personality by showing you which books are on my desk at the moment. They are:

• The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging
  
• MLA Handbook Sixth Edition
• Problogger
  
• The New New Journalism
• Reading Like a Writer
• The Scene Book
• Lolita
• The Things They Carried
• The Starving Artist's Survival Guide
• The Pocket Muse
• The Lost Soul Companion
• The Elements of Style

Both Lolita and The Things They Carried will always have a home on my desk. Huffington Post and Problogger, on the other hand, are current reads and might find their way to the appointed shelf once I'm done with them.

Tonight, I'm going book hunting Gut Symmetries by Jeannette Winterson. I hope to find a(n) used copy of the book as I would rather not pay full price for something I'm unsure I'd like. My partner in crime/hunt will be Jerry.

Return of the pen

From A Book Hunter's Journal

So I've taken up writing again. The hiatus was killing me. Reading too much and not writing will do that. Actually, I haven't exactly not writing. If you're reading this, you can attest to this. And in order to better myself with writing, I bought myself a camera. I don't know why I bought it, really. I guess I just wanted it.

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Growing Up: A Look on the Adaptation of "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" by Chris Fuhrman

I'm with you on this one, Chuck. When it comes to adaptations I used to be like most of you who complained how it wasn't faithful to the novel or short story or graphic novel or whatever creative medium it spawned from. However, after years of reading books and watching movies - especially the adaptations of said books - I've come to realize that movies should offer something new, a stand alone.

When I first watched The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys back when it was first released on DVD, I enjoyed the film. Later - possibly after the movie ended due to the credits or through the back of the box - I learned that the movie was based on a novel by Chris Fuhrman - I should say only novel by Fuhrman. Needless to say - as I've already mentioned it in my "review" (see "I Was A Catholic Teenage Rebel"), I purchased the novel only picking it up recently.

The images from the movie were vague in my head. I remembered faintly how the story ended - I won't give spoilers here because I hate when others do that - but for the most part, I couldn't connect point A to point B so reading the novel was a new experience for me. Now I've popped in the movie once again, reviving not only nostalgic memories of the movies - not necessarily the events in the film - and why I loved it so much the first time I watched it.

The actors were stellar with the parts given; it was the storyline that nearly left me upset. There was no way that the novel was taken a part so horribly and stapled back together like this piece of shit movie. But that's the old me talking. The me who used to hate going to the movies only to watch one of his favorite books ripped asunder. What have I learned after all these years? Film adaptations shouldn't be compared to the book, regardless.

There are some of you out there who still hang on to the belief that films should be faithful to the printed roots. It's a notion that has to be let go. You will only drive yourself mad with the fact that there will never be a film that even comes close to the novel that still possesses the same heart and breath.

A movie should be a stand alone from its printed brethren. It shouldn't attempt to mimic it, merely use it as a jumping point. That is what Jeff Stockwell and Michael Petroni did for the screenplay. And the movie worked.