Kindle Series No. 2: First impressions after borrowing one.

I let the Kindle sit, fairly glowing, on the mantle ...

November 2, 2010

Hugh Gilmore

Kindling Bovary

            I finished reading "Freedom" on Friday night, spurred to read a lengthy final section by the desire to try the Kindle loaned me by a fellow member of the Chestnut Hill Book Festival.

            As I mentioned last week, Franzen's tale of a dull-but-kindly husband and his yearning, adulterous wife, reminded me of Flaubert's "Madame Bovary." I wanted to reread that story and also wanted to see what it was like to read a book on a Kindle electronic reader.

            Downloading "Madame Bovary" took about 90 seconds and cost 99 cents. Pretty impressive. I learned how to read from the Kindle in about another minute and that aspect of its simplicity impressed me too. After that, I closed the cover, and let the Kindle sit, fairly glowing, on the mantle while I buried my nose in "Freedom" and finished it around 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

            On Saturday night, I got in bed, propped myself in reading position, and pushed in sequence three little Kindle buttons that opened the world of "Madame Bovary" to me once again.

            My reactions next week.