This is the first book I read on my new Kobo reader. So this is a combined review. Which is quite fitting as Stephen Fry is a well-known blogger and quite a technology junkie.
I had a bit of a rocky start getting into this book and ran out of time. Yes, your Kobo reader will know if the book has expired and you won’t be able to access it anymore. On my second run (very popular book so I had to wait for a bit to get it back), it was a very good read and the e-reader lasted the distance, some 450-odd pages – or in time-terms a week. It didn’t go much beyond that though it’s meant to last for 2 weeks of average reading. The reader is not meant to use power while you’re reading, only for any action you take, i.e. change the settings or turn the page. I’m not sure whether 450 pages in a week is fast reading, I probably read about a book a week, let’s say around 300 pages so I would expect 600 pages out of it. So for battery power, I can’t give it any more than satisfactory.
Back to Stephen Fry. I’ve read all his other books and I do like his style, the lightness and the humour that come through. This is an autobiography. From the time he spent a short time in prison for some youthful transgression to when he fell for some unlawful substances. As an actor and television personality (though he might not appreciate that as an evaluation (he mentions in his book that he has done more writing than acting but that when people try to discredit his opinion, they would call him an actor) … Start that sentence again. On TV he seems self-assured and he also mentions that he gets approached by people asking him how he does it. But the most prominent and consistent tenor of the book is that he feels anything but, that is he felt insecure all through his life and certainly throughout the time described in this book – which is probably why he fell victim to whatever the substance is he hints at. If you like Stephen Fry, you will enjoy this book. He comes across very much like himself, humorous and very entertaining. I’m not familiar with his early work (too young and lived in the wrong country) but it’s also quite interesting to get a little glimpse behind the scenes of what we do know.
My review of the Kobo Reader is not quite that convincing. It’s got its good sides but generally it’s disconcerting always having to think of whether your “book is charged” (and it happened twice to me that I had it charged, didn’t touch it for a week and when I picked it up it said it needed charging – and that despite it’s not meant to use power unless in use). – I had hoped that it will give me easier access to foreign books but so far find the prices higher than what I’m prepared to pay. Don’t forget that you can’t resell an eBook or even lend it to a friend. Also, I wonder what happens should your e-reader ever fail. Will that mean you lose your entire library?
tbc
