Thursday, March 1, 2012

AudioBook - The Screwtape Letters

C. S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters: Anniversery Edition
C.S.Lewis is a wonderful author and wrote in many styles. His children's books are most famous, but he wrote many others. One of my favorites is this one. My Father-in-law gave me my first copy of the printed book, many years ago, and i struggled to read it. 
The subject matter takes some getting used to, as it is supposedly the opinions and viewpoint of a senior Devil, instructing his nephew on how to win back a new Christian to Satan. As a Christian one has to REVERSE this viewpoint to see it from our angle.
However, one day our library had a recorded copy of it on loan from the National Library, and i borrowed it. 
Well, i laughed and cried all my way through it, listened to it over and over - and then had to buy my own copy, as i didn't want to return the library's copy. Having it read out loud is wonderful, and leaves one free to get involved in the content, and think about the words.
John Cleese narrates the book and he is most excellent, with his wicked chuckle, as the diabolical senior Devil, "Screwtape".

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

To Read or Not To Read??

When i was younger i read incessantly. I devoured books not only for entertainment but as a way of learning - especially in the age before TV and the Internet, and well before Kindles and other modern devices. I loved learning, and this was a way i could learn at home, or wherever i was. I wanted to be a librarian, but though I did not train as a professional librarian, over the years i have worked in bookshops, and in libraries as a volunteer. 
Over the years my eyes deteriorated, and though i can see well enough to do the normal things, and can still read a certain amount especially if i can enlarge it, like on the computer, i can no longer manage normal printed word books. 
As i was busy bringing up 5 children I didn't have time for fiction, and so i chose non-fiction that had plenty of pictures, charts etc which are easier to get information from, and survived that way.
26 years ago we got out first computer which was great for writing as i could set the font large and bold, and i changed the background to black and the font to either lavender or (strange but true) lime green, which made it easier on my eyes which are affected by white background.
But this didn't solve the problem of my "input" need, as we didn't have internet back then.
More about this in my next post.