Bookish Bits and Bobs: Vive les livres

It's recently been reported that the French consumption of ebooks has gone up by 2% between 2011 and 2013...making a total of a mere 3% of book sales. This compares to around 22% consumption in the US and around 10% consumption in the UK. So why are French readers not interested?

Trying to get a connection? Good luck with that

One theory that has been posited is that the French are less enthusiastic about gadgetry in general, meaning that ebook uptake was always bound to be slow. Only about 1% of the adult population of France is said to own an ereader, while this figure is more like 26% in the US. This of course doesn't account for tablet ownership, but even if we look at this, it too is lower (10% of the French adult population owns one, compared to 34% in the US). These statistics are perhaps surprising to those who spend most of their time around Paris, where ebook readers, tablets and smartphones abound. However, travel just a couple of hours south and it's clear that such gadgetry is a novelty, with ereader users getting strange looks in public as they are such a rare sight. In some very rural areas, connectivity is also still limited to non-existent, which will limit uptake.

It's also worth bearing in mind that salaries in the US are higher than in France. According to the BBC, the average American works for $3,263 a month, while the average French person earns $2,886 - and while differences in the cost of living can partly justify this gap in salary, it would not be true to say that everyday living costs are always lower in France. (Long-distance train travel and food are just two of the things that spring to mind as being cheaper in the US.) Prices of these gadgets are also comparatively lower. Not many people in France (outside the capital, of course) have the spare €400 required for the 16GB iPad 2 - whereas people in the US, with higher average salaries, are able to snag one for $400 (about €300 at today's exchange rate). But this can't be all there is to it. Why aren't the French interested in this technology, or in reading ebooks in general?

The French version of Big Brother

At the risk of sounding deliberately polemic, it could be observed that the French are just slow on the uptake in general when it comes to new trends, and that they also just have different tastes (and that this is, indeed, part of the country's charm). For instance, celebrity gossip and reality TV does exist in France, but to nowhere near the same degree of popularity as in the US or UK. They are also more parochial in their food tastes, preferring to continue exploring the cuisine of their own country (or even just region) rather than branching out and cooking dishes from many different countries. This naturally stretches into technology and more specifically into education and technology. Smartboards in French state schools? You have to be joking.

The front-facing, chalk-and-talk French system

Why is education important in this debate? It's not that all schools in the UK and US are now teaching exclusively from e-textbooks and dancing around bonfires of their old paper copies (although there are of course reasons why this wouldn't be such a terrible thing), as compared to France, where students are still made to copy out chalked notes from the blackboard (erm, in some places...see right!). While a lack of technology in French schools is partly linked to the country's slow uptake of e-readers and so on (given that children and adults arguably haven't been shown the benefits to any advanced degree), it also links back to the fact that French education is still very traditional indeed. It's probably roughly where Britain was back in the eighties or maybe even the seventies. "Special needs" go largely unaddressed; little account is taken of students' differing learning styles (kinetic, aesthetic and so on); rote learning is highly prized; arts, sports and even sciences take a back seat in primary schools, while most of the learning time is spent on literacy and numeracy; and learning is overall very book-based, with focus on individual rather than group learning. 

Perhaps this sounds harsh and a French student who's left the system recently (or is still in it) will soon come along to debunk this. But it seems doubtful. One of the strengths (and weaknesses) of the French education system is its lack of overall change across the years, and this would explain the lack of technological assimilation in French schools. The "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy prevails. Why would students need ebook readers or smartboards? Textbooks and blackboards work just as well. In 2010, only 66% of French teachers claimed to have used technology in their classroom in the last 12 months, compared to 96% of UK teachers. The teachers in France cited reasons for this which included potential disruption to the class, difficulties in installing the technology, and doubting the technology's pedagogical efficacy. All of this amounts to an attitude and ethos whereby physical books are highly prized by French children and adults. Combined with the income levels and gadget prices mentioned above, this makes them more likely to use paper books than electronic ones.

Bookshop, rue de la Convention, Paris

The same pattern pervades the French book market. Having spent their education with the value of physical books being reinforced, the French are keen to continue prizing this, with the prices of paper books being highly protected so that authors are paid properly. High book prices have driven consumers in other countries to flock to online sellers, but as well as cherishing paper books and the academic institution of the country's authors, the French also like to uphold the livelihood of independent booksellers, which is partly driven by anti-capitalist sentiments as well as a sense of intellectual honour. This all means that in France, large online companies (and suppliers of ebooks) cannot win over independent (or at least physical) retailers - at least for now. 

A smartboard being used in a French state school

One can therefore conclude that far too many factors are still too strongly at play in favour of paper books for the French to even consider converting seriously to ebooks. So could this ever change? The French have already started stealing Britain's TV shows (creating their own versions of Money Drop and Come Dine With Me, to name but a few), even if some of these were programmes that Britain decided it didn't want anymore way back in the eighties (such as Family Fortunes); will they therefore be following the UK and US suit in the near future? Back in 2010, when the above data was initially released, then-education minister Luc Chatel announced a €60m investment in school technology, and in October 2011, telecoms company Orange worked with the French government to establish a promising pilot scheme in schools. Called the Tablette Elève Nomade project, 300 Samsung Android tablets were provided to six schools across three French districts, and it went so well that the initial one-year trial was extended to last a further year. Teachers noted several positive changes, including easier motivation of disaffected learners, easier differentiation, increased team work and bonding among students, and increased parental involvement. 

Maccy D's, French-style...a sign of progress?

All of this indicates that in the right environment and with appropriate support, parents, students and teachers are all receptive to the use of new technology. As children who were born into a world where smartphones and at-home web access are normal begin to grow up, it's possible that the new young population (who, if current trends continue, are more likely to live in a shoebox of a studio flat than a roomy detached house) will be keener to read digitally (even if only to save space). Perhaps only then will ebook sales increase. France is slower to pick up on trends - but it often gets there eventually. For better or for worse, celebrity magazines such as Voici! are gaining in popularity in France, Amazon is well-used (even though discounts are nowhere near as large thanks to laws protecting authors), and even McDonalds (you'd think the arch enemy of the French) does well throughout the country. Ebook sales are likely to do this too in the end, with likelihood perhaps being increased with the decline of traditional physical bookstores such as the Fnac. However, somehow it seems less probable that France will ever stop loving books in general. Vive les livres indeed.

Print shop

I promise I have some book reviews coming up for you in the next few days (Fidel Castro, Helen Simonson and The Simpsons are all on the menu), but for tonight, here's a quick nugget of news to contribute to the debate of 'print versus digital'.

After publishing Riding The Bullet as an ebook only in the year 2000, Stephen King has pulled off a complete volte-face with the publication of his latest book, Joyland, which will be released only as a print copy. He hasn't ruled out the possibility of digital copies being available in future, but for now has said that he would prefer people to get off their backsides and go to an actual bookshop.

King's wishes may be a little desperate given the rise of e-tailing: many fans probably won't get off the sofa and go to the bookshop round the corner when they can still order the paper copy of the book online. However, King's polemical point about wanting people to appreciate the physicality of a print book is still strong and valid. I received a Kindle for Christmas in 2011, and while I greatly value the fact that I no longer have to cart a ton of books with me on my commute or on holiday, as well as the low price of certain ebooks, I do not feel that reading on an ebook reader is a comparable experience to reading physical books (and I think I'd say that regardless of what ebook reader I had).

Why? These reasons can seem superficial, but they all add up to a big part of the experience of reading 'real' books. Being unable to see the thickness of the book, or feel its weight, reduces my ability to perceive how much of the book I have read, which can lead to aimlessly skipping through pages to see where the next chapter starts. And no, having the percentage gauge at the bottom of the screen doesn't help. I also miss, to a degree, the cover art of a book, in the same way that vintage record fans find CDs inferior. (However, I used to have this problem with MP3s too, suggesting that my mourning for the loss of book cover art may decline over time.) There are also still several formatting issues with ebooks that are yet to be resolved and which just don't (or at least rarely do) occur in printed books. Finally, there's the lack of sensory experience in ebooks that is provided by regular publications - not just the feeling of the weight and the look of the illustrations, but also the smell of the pages, the sound that they make when you turn them, and the rough grain of their texture beneath your fingertips (although I'll grant you that the absence of papercuts incurred by reading ebooks is something to be grateful for).

I can therefore completely understand Stephen King's reticence when it comes to encouraging the digital revolution. But at least his success means that even if he does choose to eventually publish Joyland digitally, it is far likely to be for ideological reasons - and not for financial ones.

Bookworm News (July 2012)

Man Booker Prize Longlist 2012

The longlist for the prestigious Man Booker Prize was announced this month, with several famous names sitting alongside debut novelists. Perhaps unsurprising given the series' success and popularity, Hilary Mantel features with Wolf Hall's sequel, Bring up the Bodies. Other famous names on the list are Michael Frayn for Skios, Will Self for Umbrella, and André Brink (who is nominated for his 21st novel, Philida). These individuals are in the company of several other novelists who have also written multiple books but somehow stayed off the radar: Nicola Barker (nominated for her ninth novel, The Yips), Deborah Levy (who is also nominated for her ninth novel, entitled Swimming Home), Ned Beauman (for second novel The Teleportation Accident) and Tan Twan Eng, for The Garden of Evening Mists (his second novel). Finally come the debutants: Jeet Thayil (with Narcopolis), Sam Thompson (for Communion Town), Alison Moore (The Lighthouse), and Rachel Joyce (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry).

So who do I think is in with a shout? Rightly or wrongly, it is rare for a relative unknown to win this prize, so I would skew more towards Will Self as a possible winner (perhaps because I am already a fan of his writing). From among the more unknown authors, Ned Beauman - whose success at such a young age almost makes me wish I'd never heard of him - seems the brightest star thanks to a strong literary and journalistic track record, especially in the face of competition such as Sam Thompson's Communion Town (which gets very bad reviews on Amazon) and Alison Moore (whose debut novel, The Lighthouse, for which she is nominated, is not even available to the general public yet. The mind boggles). In any case - more on this subject once I've managed to have a closer look at the books. May the best win!

Banned Books Week

Yep, there's a week for this. And I think it's so unspeakably cool that I'll be trying to spearhead a week of related activities at my school throughout its duration (September 29 - October 6, for the interested). As part of the festivities, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression will help booksellers make videos of people reading from banned books and post them online. And we all know how much kids (whether reluctant or avid readers) love a video clip. More than 90 videos were produced last year by booksellers alone, with more than 800 videos being posted in total of people reading banned books on YouTube. Intrigued? Then check out http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/ for extra info. You'll find me in the resources section, printing out book lists and posters, and checking out display ideas and activities. And, if you're anything like me, you'll be buying one of these as well.

Join The Great Book Migration

The rest of the year is also packed with a whole host of stunning literary activities: as well as NaNoWriMo in November, you can also join The Great Book Migration. Vision correction specialists Ultralase, in conjunction with UK athlete Jonathan Edwards, have decided to track 100 books in a nation that spends an average of 8 hours reading per week (which, encouragingly, is higher than I would have thought). From Dracula to One Day, the books will be found in public places with 'Read Me' labels attached. The finders can then log where they found the book using QR codes, Twitter, Facebook or email. Keep your eyes open now...they really could be anywhere from airports to park benches. Plus, if you find a book, you not only get to keep it but are also entered into a draw to win a £10 Amazon voucher. So get hunting - and remember those who have lost their sight to a degree that they are no longer able to experience the joy of reading traditional books.

The UK's favourite fictional folk
A poll of over 2000 people has been conducted to reveal Britain's favourite literary characters. Some of the results are arguably surprising (with Hermione trouncing Harry, for one), but it's perhaps a no-brainer that a beloved Jane Austen character comes very close to the top of the list. With Bond fever sweeping the nation, however (see the Bond in Motion exhibition at Beaulieu, or the Designing 007 expo in London for more "shaken, not stirred" goodness), it's this fictional Secret Service agent who steals the top spot. Here's the list in full:

1. James Bond

2. Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice)

3. Jane Eyre

4. Hermione Grainger (Harry Potter series)

5. Miss Marple (Agatha Christie)

6. Harry Potter

7. Gandalf

8. Bella (Twilight)

9. Poirot

10. Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy)

Film-tacular

There are plenty of cinematic treats to look forward to in the near future as yet more books are transformed into films and released on DVD for our viewing pleasure. Bel Ami, based on the 1885 novel by Guy de Maupassant and starring Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman and Christina Ricci, was released on DVD this month, and the newest incarnation of Les Misérables on the silver screen coming out at the end of December for some countries, and at the beginning of January for others. Starring such luminaries as Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe, it promises to be a strong contender to the 1998 version (featuring the hunky Liam Neeson). Before that, though, is the first adaptation of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas in October, which has Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant and Jim Broadbent in leading roles. What with all this excitement (plus the new version of The Great Gatsby also coming out before Christmas), I may barely be able to contain myself. I might need a cinema subscription this term.

Thomas Pynchon's full back catalogue to be published in ebook form for first time

Celebrated US author Pynchon is probably most famous for Gravity's Rainbow - a weighty tome which not even I have read (although it's been on my Amazon wishlist for some time). However, this writer's back catalogue is about to become even more accessible to the modern reader due to being made available for ebook readers for the first time. Not only will Gravity's Rainbow suddenly become ultra-portable, but so will Against The Day, Inherent Vice, Slow Learner, and others. So now there's no excuse to not get cracking - although the nature of most ebook devices means other passengers on your commute won't be able to take a sneaky peek at the cover and be secretly impressed, sadly.

Looking to detox pre-Christmas?

Yep, it's the C-word - but sadly it's necessary to think this far ahead if you're like me and just go mad when faced with a plate of mince pies. There are always going to be various methods of preparing for this and putting a damage limitation strategy into action (mine will probably be Weight Watchers...again). But another strategy could lie in the hands of the raw foodists, such as Rebecca Kane, whose new book is out now. Whether you're looking to lose weight, improve your health, change your relationship with food, feel more confident, or just discover new foods, a raw food diet (even for a short time) could tick those boxes. The author lost 4 stone this way and has coached would-be raw foodists for 10 years on this particular lifestyle, before now incarnating the raw food philosophy into an easy-to-digest book for your delectation. The book, entitled Turn Your Shine On, is supposed to encourage us to reconnect with ourselves, and its recipes and tips could even help alleviate conditions such as migraines and IBS. Although the book has meal plans, it also encourages readers to choose appropriate goals and manage their own progress between stages, balancing a 100% raw philosophy with a normal day-to-day lifestyle (which doesn't mean you can never eat lasagne or cake again. YAY.).

The pen is mightier than the sword

In this age of digital wizardry, it can seem alien or strange at times to pick up a proper pen or pencil. With my handwriting already having slightly schizophrenic qualities, I worry occasionally that without practice, the art of handwriting something beautifully could be lost. Ed Beerbohm, from Paperstone, agrees. “The resurgence of the fountain pen is yet another instance of our increasing appetite for nostalgia," he says. "The march of technology can be quite alienating and it is not surprising that some of us want to connect to a simpler past which the fountain pen seems to embody.” I still take great pleasure in writing handwritten letters to my special ones and fear that this, too, is a dying art. Reminiscing is supposed to be great for mental health (as long as you don't spend *all* your time doing it, presumably), so if harking back to simpler methods we can enhance our well-being, I'm all for it. I remember being at school in the late 1990s, where we were obsessed by pens of all kinds, from Parkers (Chris, I'm looking at you!) to scented gel pens (pretty much obligatory along with being total Spice Girls homies), stopping off at glittery pencils along the way. Encouragingly, fountain pen sales are rising - meaning that, hopefully, there are others out there who feel as I do. Now - where's my Parker?

Bookworm News: October/November 2011

Awards news

The 2011 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer. The citation from the committee said that "through his condensed translucent images he gives us fresh access to reality." The eighty-year-old recipient of the $1.5 million award beat off stiff competition, including Haruki Murakami, and has had his work translated into more than 50 languages - so there's no excuse for us all to not seek out his poetry.

The Forward Poetry Prize was also won by John Burnside, who had made the shortlist three times previously. He was awarded the £10,000 prize for his collection Black Cat Bone, which has also been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize alongside work by Carol Ann Duffy and Alice Oswald, to name just a few.

Across the Channel it is a secondary school biology teacher who has won France's most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, with The French Art of War (L'art français de guerre). Alexis Jenni will not receive a large monetary award as a result of being declared the winner, but will take his place in the hall of fame with previous winners Proust, de Beauvoir, and Houllebecq, and enjoy an almost guaranteed increase in sales and acclaim.

Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo won the £30,000 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, which honours a book providing the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues. Smaller readers can enjoy the winners of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize: Cats Ahoy! (Peter Bently/Jim Field) and The Brilliant World of Tom Gates (Liz Pichon). And since young readers often become young writers too, let's mention Lucy Caldwell, who at age 30 has won the £30,000 Dylan Thomas Prize for Young Writers, for her novel The Meeting Point. Professor Peter Stead, founder of the award for best writing in any genre by a writer under 30, praised The Meeting Point as "a beautifully written and mature reflection on identity, loyalty and belief in a complex world."

Author proves beauty is more than skin deep

Author Bethan Stritton is a mum on a mission to counteract what she believes is the damaging effect that the beauty and cosmetics industry is having on women’s self esteem. “The industry is spending billions of pounds to convince us that the only way we can be seen as ‘beautiful’ is to buy their products. As a result people are spending more and more on an impossible dream.” In her new book “Grow your Gorgeousness”, Bethan offers a way back to true beauty by helping women to celebrate themselves as gorgeous just for being who they are. The mum from the Isle of Wight, who lost two friends to eating disorders, uses personal development techniques and empowerment tools to help women of all ages and all body types redefine themselves, and could well prove a breath of fresh air in the airbrushed industry that we are subjected to on a daily basis.

Amazon's latest acquisition
In spite of charges from industry organisations including the Independent Publishers' Guild that such a move would create a monopoly, Amazon's acquisition of UK online retailer The Book Depository has been approved. The Office for Fair Trading decided that competition within Amazon marketplace would continue to be strong after the takeover, and pointed out that the Book Depository only accounted for 2-4% of the online market for physical books.

Pottermore no more?

J.K. Rowling's Pottermore website, which had been planning to emerge from closed beta status in October, now features this message: "Pottermore is currently unavailable. We are making important updates to the site, which may take some time." The Pottermore Insider blog offered an explanation: "Since we launched Pottermore, our one million Beta users have given us lots of amazing feedback, and we've been collecting their thoughts and comments so that we can make Pottermore the best experience it can be before it opens to everyone. After looking closely at all the information that we've gathered, we have decided to further extend the Beta period so we can improve Pottermore before giving more people access. This means the site will not be opening to new users in the immediate future, but please know that we will open registration as soon as we can."

Neil Gaiman meets The Simpsons...

Fox released images and an official synopsis for a new episode of The Simpsons, on which special guest Neil Gaiman joins Homer's book-writing team. Comic Book Resources reported that Gaiman also posted a clip from the show, with "a glimpse of a bookstore display showcasing the author's work, including The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1, and The Absolute Death."

...and Neil Hannon meets Arthur Ransome

Expectations are likely high for Ransome fans as Swallows and Amazons hits the stage. This literary adaptation takes the form of a musical adventure, with The Divine Comedy's lead singer, Neil Hannon, providing the musical and lyrical soundtrack. Directed by Tom Morris and adapted by Helen Edmundson (who adapted Coram Boy), the play is sure to please Hannon and Ransome fans alike, and best of all for younger readers, under 18s are half price on the more expensive seats.

Touchscreen gloves to light Kindle lovers' fire

For those who want to keep warm and still use their iPhones and Kindles, TouchAbility has launched a new range of touchscreen compatible gloves featuring special conductive fibres in all ten fingers. The genuine silver thread that these contain help to allow the electrical impulses from the wearer's fingers to be passed through the gloves, and onto the touch screen. This thread is barely visible, unlike many other types of touchscreen glove that have distinct pads of conductive material or contrasting coloured sections on the tips of one or two fingers.

Available exclusively at the TouchAbility online store for £12.99, the gloves come in 2 colours (grey and charcoal) and 2 sizes (medium and large). Also to go with the Kindle is the Blasted Boxset: five full-length novels by five different authors on a branded USB stick in a presentation pack, combining the convenience and affordability of ebooks with the gratification of a tangible product, for the price of a single hardback.

Dating for literary lovers

LoveArts.com is the new dating site from The Stage that connects singles with a shared interest in the performing, literary or visual arts. The tailored service for arts lovers enables users to search for others via their cultural interests, whether it's photography, reading, or the theatre (to name just a few). Creating a profile, uploading up to 10 photos and receiving 100 potential matches is free of charge and the perfect way for members to start exploring the service. As an exclusive introductory offer, LoveArts.com is giving away 500 free one-month subscriptions. The subscription gives individuals the benefits of all the subscriber-only features including up to 1000 suitable matches and use of a safe, private messaging service. A free one-month subscription can be claimed by visiting http://www.lovearts.com/s/. As someone who met her husband online (albeit not through a dedicated dating site), I'd thoroughly recommend being open-minded about finding love on the internet: physical appearance will one day fade, and it is the meeting of minds and interests that ultimately keeps people together long-term.

Wishing you a happy holiday season with all of your loved ones :)

Bookish Bits & Bobs: Going Digital (2)

To begin with, I am just a little bit appalled that I have not written any Bookish Bits & Bobs columns since my post about NaNoWriMo at the end of 2010. Does 'oops' adequately cover the situation?

Anyways, it's back, and reflecting on my 2009 post on 'going digital', I feel that the fast-moving nature of technology means that here in 2011 there is already a great deal more to add. In 2009, of course, we were in pre-iPad territory. Despite my slightly derisory comments about ebook readers in my original post, I probably already wanted one just a little bit then, and it's definitely growing on me now (for reasons that I will return to shortly). However, I have a second problem: I really really really also want an iPad. Or a Galaxy Tab. Or anything that will do what I want it to do (again, see below).

The reason I would like an ebook reader is because I frankly have silly amounts of physical books, and am beginning to realise the limitations of realising my 400-strong Amazon wishlist. Having an ebook reader would enable me to solve this problem, as I could purchase books to my heart's content (staying within the limits of my bank balance, natch) and not worry about where to put them or have the heart-wrenching feeling of selling them. The question is which one: do I get a Kindle, and potentially only be restricted to books from Amazon, or do I go for another brand, such as the Bookeen or an ebook reader by Sony, which may provide greater flexibility?

This is all in spite of the fact that I am well aware of the flaws in epublishing; I am somewhat consoled by the fact that the ebook market is unlikely to completely supersede the real book market until these kinks have been ironed out. In my review of An Odd Boy, by Doc Togden, I point out some of these issues.

My reasons for wanting an iPad are arguably more superficial: let's face it, they are just so damn cool. However, they are also expensive, so I would be equally willing to consider a Galaxy Tab or another type of tablet (even if it would be a bit of a wrench). My main motivation would be to get newspaper and magazine subscriptions on them - again, to combat the question of space. Ebook readers seem more portable, but it only seems natural to want to read newspapers and magazines on a bigger screen, even if it seems absurd to have two separate gadgets for two quite similar purposes. 

In either case, before making such a purchase there are concerns. How long before such a gadget becomes dated? How long will it last before breaking? And, indeed, particularly in the case of something like an iPad where an ongoing subscription fee is required, are there not better ways to spend money? (I was doing quite nicely saving up for a holiday in America, Australia or Japan for myself and my husband until the tax man took it all away again.)

Sensible me is saying that it may be best to hang on for a year or two more so that I can do the travelling I want to do, perhaps purchasing these gadgets in future when I am tied to the home with children. But then impulsive me says that these gadgets aren't getting any cheaper, and that frankly, the space situation is pretty desperate now (we literally wedge books and magazines into any available nook and cranny). 

In all likelihood, I will end up purchasing an ebook reader in the near future and allowing the iPad to remain a distant dream for now. All of this may seem shallow, but given the increasing digitisation of our world, it may soon move from being a somewhat superficial and unreachable desire to being an integral and affordable part of life - ideally, happily coexisting with the written word on paper.