Quick!
HSN is currently featuring the enTourage eDGe Pocket for $399.90 + $9.95 shipping and handling, HSN #091-091.
This is a limited time offer, as HSN’s retail price is $499.99.
enTourage retail price is $549.00 plus taxes, shipping, and accessories.
Link to enTourage: http://www.entourageedge.com/devices/entourage-edge.html
Link to HSN: http://www.HSN.com
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Publisher, Gutenberg Free eBooks, http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
It’s interesting reading novels from different periods of our literary history, each is a ‘snap shot’ of the perspective of the Author at that time. That perspective changes with each generation of people that read afterwards.
Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as a Horror, I read it and came away not feeling horrified by the unnatural monster, but horrified at the Hero, Victor Frankenstein. True, I am applying my personal morals and conduct to Victor from 2010, not from 1818 (published date) and I find him very, very lacking. He is no hero in my modern eyes, he is the villan.
Victor takes no responsibility for his actions. He creates the Beast, then abandons it a few moments after its creation. He spends two years in self-pity, wallowing in how bad he feels and makes no effort to find, help or determine the nature of what he created.
The Beast had to figure it all out on his own, he does, then gets angry…
Innocent people die while Victor continues to avoid his responsibility, too horrified to act. He could have easily intervened and prevented each death but he couldn’t, he took the easy out and blamed the Monster.
Victor cared about those who died, but never enough to actually do something about it. Even his own Bride, the epitome of innocence; he confesses to have a terrible secret but won’t tell her what it is until she is irrevocably bound in marriage. He abuses her situation for his gain.
Perhaps Victor refused to deal with the Beast because doing so ment that he had to deal with the darkness within is own character. His inaction forcing those around him to deal with it instead. His only driving force was to survive, as it turned out, at other people’s expense.
I am confident that Mary Shelley wrote Victor to be the Hero and in 1818 he was probably viewed as one. The original title was “The Modern Prometheus”:
He was a champion of human-kind known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals. Zeus then punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle ate his liver every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day. Wikipedia, Prometheus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus
Was Victor, Prometheus creating a living, sentient Beast? Was Victor’s punishment the death of all that he loved and cherished? Or, was Victor’s torture the realization that he was a Coward and not the Hero he had assumed himself to be?
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The above is the opinion of the Authors.
Google is already happily in the eBook market, however they will be offering an OPEN solution to eBook purchases!
That’s good news. Maybe.
Currently, Kindle and Nook are closed, restraining eBook purchases to their own sites. This allows them to bundle the cost of their wireless downloads into the cost of the eBook, since you never ‘see’ the cost, it appears ‘free’.
It’s not, you’re paying for it.
So, how is Google going to deliver that eBook to you if you have a Kindle or Nook?
I suspect it’s going to arrive much the same way as Google eBooks arrive today, over a wired connection to a computer. Unless, Google has worked out a payment plan for Kindle and Nook wireless access and sorted out a solution for Digital Rights Management across different platforms, now that would be News-worthy.
However, the Announcements don’t go into details so we’ll all have to wait until the mystery day arrives, sometime in the next two months ‘they’ say…
Here are some links for the Google Announcement:
BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10098111.stm
PCworld, http://www.pcworld.com/article/195636/googles_ebook_store_five_burning_questions.html
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The above is an opinion of the Authors.
The Girl Who Played With Fire
Author, Stieg Larsson http://stieglarsson.net/
Publisher, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/blacklizard/
Publisher, Random House http://www.randomhouse.com/
This is the second in the series of three; The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked A Hornets Nest.
The Third book is due out on May 25th, 2010. I’ve already put my name in for a copy.
Need I say more in this review?
Perhaps, Yes – May 25th is a long way off.
There is a link to this site on the Right hand side, under ‘eBook Review Sites’ – that’s how much I like Gizmodo, they get face time.
There is also a link to the iPad, (also something that I like a lot).
However, Gizmodo has 8 very strong concerns with the iPad and you should be aware of them before you jump into the fray for $499
http://gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-that-suck-about-the-ipad
Thanks Gizmodo! And, while I respect your opinion I’m still lining up for an iPad and I’m definitely going to pass it along to the Seniors in my life.
Author Kate Chopin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Chopin and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Awakening_(novel)
Publisher Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
Free eBook
First, I had to look up two words; befurbelowed (dressed finely, in frills and such), and accouchement (confinement during childbirth). I managed through the rest of the dozen or so, that were new to me.
Second, I had to put it down for a few days because Edna was about to do something that I really hated (if she did it…) And, that’s fabulous!
I do a lot of reading and it’s delicious to come across something that completely engages me. At the time I hadn’t realized it, but needing to put it down for a few days let me know I was fully entwined with the story. The glimpses of privileged life in New Orleans in 1899 were captivating to me. Simply reading how the Lady of the House managed the Staff, her Social Obligations, and how structured life was, enraptured me.
Reading the Awakening was new for me, I’d not read it in school so I had no bias. I’d read it for an event at our local Museum of Fine Arts, they are hosting an exhibit and lecture that refer to both The Awakening and The Age Of Innocence.
If The Age Of Innocence is anything similar to Kate Chopin’s work, it’ll be a quiet weekend for me. Tea, treats and a book, thank you very much!
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The article is an opinion of the Author’s
The article excerpt is from www.money.blogdig.net. Link is at the end of this article.
I was suspicious about this; ‘we’ don’t actually buy eBooks in the sense we buy a book. Apparently, we’re only buying the rights to view the eText.
At first I thought this was only if another entity hosts your eLibrary, such as Amazon hosting the Kindle purchases for backup purposes – if your Kindle goes for a swim, Amazon retains a backup of your purchases so you can redownload when your replacement Kindle arrives. A handy service for people just like me.
I host my own eBook purchases on my own home computer as first backup and on memory cards as a second backup. (I also have 6 portable phones because I DO drop them into the pool; I’ve learned to have backups of backups.)
However, I’m not certain that ownership has transferred to me as my purchase agreements reserve the Copyright Owners Rights (standard stuff) but also allow the Vendor to enforce those rights.
While this article talks mainly about the Kindle eBook recall, it raises an interesting point on ownership and is well worth reading and your consideration.
Link to full article http://money.blogdig.net/archives/articles/July2009/20/Amazon_s__1984__Kindle_Recall_Was_Legal__Not_Big_Brotherish.html
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The above article is an opinion of the Authors.
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Updated February 19, 2010 at 9:20 a.m. to force the article excerpt credit to appear on screen. It was previously linked to the image but was too long to appear on screen.
A good article, full of well balanced data with well-informed opinions.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8479967.stm
I don’t believe eReader Devices will disappear, e-ink is just too eye friendly versus LCD. However, I do agree that the future holds an ‘all in one’ device with an open format that will allow virtual libraries. I look forward to it.
