Giller prize finalists talk about eBooks (Canada)

[kenmark]

Giller finalists talk about what they'll wear on the big night, ebooks, and more

TORONTO — Canada's most lucrative literary award, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, will be handed out Tuesday night during a televised black-tie gala ...

2009 Giller prize nominees, authors Linden MacIntyre, Anne Michaels, Annabel Lyon, Colin McAdam and Kim Echlin were asked the following question:

Do you currently have, or are you lusting after, an ebook reader like the Kindle?

[kenmark]

OK, how about a quiz to see what some Canadian authors think about eBook readers?
Match the nominee to a response.

Question:

• Do you currently have, or are you lusting after, an ebook reader ...?

Nominees:

• Linden MacIntyre
• Anne Michaels
• Annabel Lyon
• Colin McAdam
• Kim Echlin

Responses:

Yes, I am looking forward to having an ebook ... I think it will be terrific for research and travel.

No. I like bookstores and going to bookstores and browsing and picking books up and putting them down and carrying them home in a bag, and needing bookmarks, and losing my page and finding it again, and the feel of pages, and the sound of pages turning, and and and ..

I don't have one, so yeah, I'm lusting.

Nothing, ever, can replace the feel of paper in the hand ... but it would be useful to be able to read in the dark.

Yes, I am looking forward to having an ebook ... I think it will be terrific for research and travel

[igorsk]

Well, at least no one mentioned the smell. I guess that's some progress

[kenmark]

Originally Posted by igorsk

Well, at least no one mentioned the smell. I guess that's some progress

No. I like bookstores and going to bookstores and browsing and picking books up and putting them down and carrying them home in a bag, and needing bookmarks, and losing my page and finding it again, and the feel of pages, and the sound of pages turning, and and and ..

One of those "ands" is probably smell...

[GA Russell]

Am I the only one who thinks that money is an important part of the eBook equation?

For me, even if only public domain books were available to download, an eBook reader would very soon pay for itself.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Am I the only one who thinks that money is an important part of the eBook equation?

For me, even if only public domain books were available to download, an eBook reader would very soon pay for itself.

If you would otherwise buy public domain books.

I never had to...we had libraries where I lived, and really cheap sales and book giveaways were pretty common.

An eBook reader only saves me money nowadays because I live in a place where shipping from the USA becomes cost-prohibitive. Were I still living in the USA, I would have ignored eBook devices altogether.

[nboshart]

Anne Michaels, #2
Annabel Lyon, #4
Colin McAdam, #3
And the other two seem pretty interchangeable.

[ficbot]

Ha! I just knew Anne Michaels would hate ebooks. I think we should rephrase the question to this one:

How do you feel about avid readers who pay to buy books on-line have been told that they cannot send you money for yours because they live in the wrong country? Do you have so many fans that you can afford to alienate some, an are you too wealthy from your obviously lucrative writing career to have need of their real, actual money?

I wonder if their answers would change

[kenmark]

I watched the Giller Prize live on TV last night. It was the first program I've watched on TV for months. The 5 short-listed nominated books all seemed compelling stories that I'll look into, after the prices drop to an affordable level.

The prize usually generates a three-fold increase in sales of the winning book.

Linden MacIntyre Wins the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Of the winning book, the jury remarked: “The Bishop’s Man centres on a sensitive topic - the sexual abuses perpetrated by Catholic priests on the innocent children in their care. Father Duncan, the first person narrator, has been his bishop's dutiful enforcer, employed to check the excesses of priests and, crucially, to suppress the evidence. But as events veer out of control, he is forced into painful self-knowledge as family, community and friendship are torn apart under the strain of suspicion, obsession and guilt. A brave novel, conceived and written with impressive delicacy and understanding.”