After paying $18 in fines at the library, I picked up two books I had on reserve: The Bird Artist and The Shipping News. I read The Bird Artist earlier this year over a 3 week period, stopping and starting and stopping and starting.. I didn't really appreciate it so I'm givng it another go, largely due to MidB's raves and those of the Ntl Book Award peeps.
The librarian gets my books from the computer and starts scanning them in and I notice that the Shipping News has the poster from the movie on the cover (w/ Kevin Spacey and some ladies) and its dimensions have been reduced to that fat Supermarkety aspect ratio. I confess: I kind of balked when I saw that. I recoiled. Mentally at least. The Bird Artist is just fine...a little thinner and larger with a sensual velvety cover. The dimensions of the book make me thing there is GOOD READIN inside...LITERATURE...The shape of the Shipping News makes me disrespecct the book completely.
Odd, how a format has this much power not only over my decision to read a novel, but also power over my experience of reading it. It makes me think that people experience the act of reading in different ways. There are twice as many pages in the Shipping News. More pages with fewer words on them. Which means more turning. More page turning. People like to turn pages, it makes them feel like they are getting somewhere with their story and their lives. Large format paperbacks have more words to the page, which makes for better savoring.
I know that in the end it is all a bunch of words, but I do think the format (hardback, large format paperback, paperback, e-book, Beatesque pocket-sized square books, whatever) influences the experience. I am conscious of my prejudices but I think I would like the Shipping News more if it were a larger format paperback with a cool textured cover. Maybe I'll swap it out.
3 comments:
Shipping News is one of those books that I started to read because I felt like I should like it, but frankly, trade or mass market paper, I just didn't like it.
MB read The Bird Artist because I recommended it, so I don't have to tell you how I feel about that book. Read on!
I will search out the non-hollywood version of book covers. You CAN judge a book by its cover. A bad cover destroys a book. At least the sales of the book. Not that a good cover can make a bad book great, but a good cover is integral, for me, to picking up a book and looking. Hazy graphics, mushy couples, glossy paper all make me walk right by.
I'm actually returning to my love of the mass market paperback. That's what I love about genre fiction--mystery, sci fi, fantasy. It lacks pretension.
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