I have started reading Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I am 85 pages in so far; it seems that this book will take me a bit to read because of its length and depth. The story begins with Pippin and Gandalf traveling to Minas Tirith and bringing news to Denethor of both the coming war and his late son, Boromir. Pippin then takes a tour around the city and Gandalf goes off to do some unknown task. The mark of the coming of the war then comes in the morning, Gandalf saying "No, when the summons comes, not at sunrise. The Darkness has begun. There will be no dawn." (33). A great shadow then begins to spread over the land, showing that the time for war has finally come. Meanwhile, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Merry travel with Théoden who is leading the Riders of Rohan. Soon after, Aragorn, along with Legolas and Gimli, parts ways with the Rohirrim and Merry to travel through the Path of the Dead. Aragorn calls for the aid of the dead in the great battle against Sauron. Merry is tasked as Théoden's esquire and travels along with him on a separate path. They arrive in Dunharrow a bit later. Merry is supposed to remain behind there, but is allowed to go along to battle when a rider offers to take him in secret. Faramir returns to Minas Tirith and tells Denethor, Gandalf, and Pippin of his meeting with Frodo and Sam and their journey with Gollum. They talk also of the war and strategy and Faramir departs once again.
Now to address the weekly question: More and more, American society seems to be making the shift
from print to electronic. Whether it's books or newspapers or
magazines, many Americans now get their reading material via
electronics. What impact do you think this has on the reading
experience? Do you prefer to read via print or electronic mediums? Is
understanding or connection impacted by print vs. electronic? Will there
be a time when print goes the way of the 8-track?
As society changes over to digital forms of print, many things are beginning to change in the way we perceive and experience books. For one, the new technology has made books incredibly more accessible. Having one device that can carry an entire library of books, yet be smaller than a notebook is actually quite astounding. Instead of flipping a page and hearing crinkling paper, you can simply drag a finger across a screen. Personally, I prefer print over electronic reading. Print has more character. The smell and the yellowing of the pages of old books tells an additional story that simply cannot be conveyed through electronic resources. I definitely see the upside to electronic reading though as far as accessibility goes. I think that when the time comes where electronic print becomes more prevalent, people will need to decide if they are willing to trade character for accessibility. As far as understanding goes, I don't really think it is effected by the method of reading. Connection is slightly different though. I think connection is partially changed by the character of actual print and there seems to be some sort of disconnect between the reader and electronic text.
