Whenever you speak of ebooks, people say that they prefer the feel of a real book and I have great sympathy with that view. I started seriously collecting books when I was 17 and have some wonderful volumes on my shelves that are increasing in value and interest over the decades.
In fact, I have too many books and need to do another purge of my shelves. For some time now, I have discarded any fictional books that I buy to read when on holiday or, like Fr Adrian Fortescue, to clear my mind towards the end of the day. (Much better than television.) I especially enjoy historical fiction but read quite quickly (though not as quickly as Fortescue) and get through quite a few of them. (I must remember to take a box of such books over to the school for their Christmas bazaar.) In the future, I shall simply stock up the Kindle with a few titles
For many years I have had the intention of reading Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and always ask for it in second-hand bookshops. On the rare occasions when a shop actually has a copy, it has been beyond my budget.
I just downloaded a copy of all six volumes for my Kindle for 72p.
19 comments:
Definitely check out http://www.epubbooks.com/books for freebies. I've downloaded Gibbons, Chesterton, and many other great titles from here.
You can also read Kindle books on your PC with the free app they supply:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_left_cn?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200488000
I just finished reading "A Bitter Trial" and it is a fascinating read. BTW, I was able to purchase mine from Amazon.com (America), in print.
I cannot get over the candor by which Evelyn Waugh writes to John Carmel Cardinal Heenan. I understand that he was someone of note, but my goodness. I shutter to think of how it would go over if I were to start writing my Ordinary in that manner. EEK.
Needless to say, Waugh saw through all the ecclesiastical BS and was able to coherently see what the end game was. And he was 100% correct. As I read, I was astonished by the fact that it was so clear...and yet it was allowed to happen. I also saw the absolute lack of fortitude that Card. Heenan had. He started off ok, but by the end he was as much a pawn to Bugnini and his cohort as anyone. That makes me sad.
All of this liturgical melieu could have been avoided if the heirarchy of the time had the forsight of an English convert.
I pray that all priests say the TLM and that they say the Novus Ordo properly (if only out of necessity).
May God keep you close.
Theocoid - thanks for the link. I have downloaded a few classic titles for free but they don't always have a linkable ToC which is important. But I'll check the site you give.
Patruus - I'm intending to download the PC app; does it allow you to copy and paste text. That would be very useful for quoting books in articles.
Andy - Yes, I saw that it was in print at the US Amazon site. It was the failure of Ignatius to have it on the UK Amazon that prompted me to get the ebook version. Glad I did - I agree with your summary of it.
I never get rid of books, I intend to have a library one day.
As for e-books, I don't have a method of reading them, but I did get free copies of Joseph de Maistre's "The Pope" and Napoleon III's "Of Napoleonic Ideas". Interesting stuff. A lot of those older books are free.
Decline and Fall was on 'the Index.' Hope you won't get in trouble. ;-D
I love beautiful books (leather cover; miniature editions, and the like) but I must say I found the Kindle vastly superior to paperbacks for quality of reading.
Besides, there's a wealth of literature classics available for zippo, in many languages.
In my eyes, kindle will kill the cheap paperback and leave only the books that it is a pleasure to have in the bookshelf, the beautiful ones.
Long live the kindle.
Mundabor
Kindle for PC or stand alone doesn't permit copying and pasting. I buy books on Kindle because of the saving on postage to Australia.
"Another fat, thick book...scribble, scribble, scribble, eh Mr Gibbon?"
George III
There was a comedy sketch recently on the Wireless about how we'd view the recession in forty years' time:
"What was it like, Grandad?"
"It was 'orrible...... we 'ad to download Classics for Free, like animals..."
Copying text from Kindle for PC is said to be possible, though it doesn't work in the version I have. There appears to be some confusion about the issue -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/forum/kindle?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx3IRFCNF3E5K2W&cdThread=Tx3H1BG3ZEB5MII
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22kindle%20for%20pc%22%20copy%20paste
If you read it on Kindle, you'd have to revise the Duke of Gloucester's famous quote on receiving the second volume from Gibbon in 1781:
"Another damned, thick, square, book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh! Mr. Gibbon?"
Your cleaning lady's prayers answered at long last!
Well Father, we are beginning to sound like a PR team for Kindle, but the convenience of this gadget is undeniable.
I have the Douai Rheims Bible in reassuring red leather from Baronius for use at home, but when I travel I have it with me on my Kindle and paid 86p for it! St Ignatius brings his Exercises with me, and St Augustine's Confessions are ready waiting for my attention. I have just downloaded St Catherine Emmerich and Tacitus' The Histories, both for silly prices.
I can enlarge the text to suit me, and if my eyes are really tired or I'm washing up, the robot voice will read to me (ok, not the most pleasant experience, but useful). When arthritis in fingers and thumbs is too painful, the lack of physical contact is a bonus rather than a loss of sensual delight.
For those of us with already-bulging bookcases and sometimes-aching bones, the Kindle is a boon.
St Athanasius' De Incarnatione and St John of Damascus' Complete Exposition - both free!
If only the Kindle was 72p.
One of my degrees is in history and we had to read the entire Rise and Fall, however, with a critical eye. The book is highly faulty, but worth reading once. Good luck.
As long as one overlooks Gibbons's anti-Christian tendencies, his histories are impressive.
Yes, I should have mentioned that Gibbon is not trustworthy in his judgements regarding Christianity (or religion in general.) Newman lamented that in his time there was no ecclesiastical historian "except the unbeliever Gibbon."
But he can be very amusing in his sarcastic passing remarks - a little like Tacitus whom he obviously admires.
For those interested in in free eBook readers for the pc, check out a program called calibre. (It can also be used for linux and Mac I understand.)
It not only allows you to read books but is also useful for organising your eBook collection and is very good for converting eBooks from one format to another. Just Google 'calibre' to find it.
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