Tag Archives: Books

On the Road (original scroll edition) by Jack Kerouac: paper versus oblivion

Posted on 14 May 2013 by Propagandum

What was Kerouac trying to do by typing this early version of his classic novel on 120 feet of long strips of paper joined together with tape? How and why does this strange writing technique change what we feel about … Continue reading →

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The mystery of the covered-up book cover …

Posted on 9 March 2013 by Propagandum

Wandering into my local bookshop the other day, I was shocked to see this: W – as some people say in cyberspace – TF? What’s going on here? How can you buy a book if you can’t read what it … Continue reading →

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A post about books about books

Posted on 1 March 2012 by Propagandum

27 February was the first meeting of our Cambridge books-about-books book group. It has been a pet project I have been looking to get off the ground for a couple of years. It is in the semi-public domain under the aegis … Continue reading →

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Ordinary is beautiful, beautiful is ordinary

Posted on 20 February 2012 by Propagandum

I hope this selection doesn’t seem too random; we all collect texts, images and things people say, don’t we? The justification, if I need one, is that I am trying to reflect, in this tiny collection, something of the ordinariness … Continue reading →

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Hitler and me for the book, the Kindle and writing; Moses, Buddha, Socrates and Jesus Christ against

Posted on 9 February 2012 by Propagandum

A book of words is usually fairly simple and ordinary; at its best it can give us a sense that this ordinariness is very special indeed. Of course ‘special’ sounds silly as soon as I write it down, and ‘ordinariness’ … Continue reading →

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Baskerville versus the Kindle versus the Medici Psalter – in praise of ordinariness

Posted on 30 January 2012 by Propagandum

In my two previous posts I staged a mock battle between a 1760 book printed by John Baskerville and my Kindle. The ‘e-reader’, for a newcomer and late arrival, did surprisingly well, although I made no secret I like the … Continue reading →

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Baskerville versus the Kindle, Rounds 2–7, Hearing to Sustainability

Posted on 24 January 2012 by Propagandum

In the previous post I pitted my Kindle against a book that is a minor masterpiece of eighteenth-century typography: John Baskerville’s 1760 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. I promise I went into this Battle of the Book-Related Christmas Presents with no preconceptions … Continue reading →

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Baskerville versus the Kindle, Round 1: Seeing

Posted on 18 January 2012 by Propagandum

I have been very kindly (Kindley?) given a Kindle for Christmas. Yes, I haven’t previously given the e-book phenomenon a good writeup. So this is a very good chance to get off some of my high horses and simply try to find … Continue reading →

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The 12 books of Christmas

Posted on 13 January 2012 by Propagandum

After the Cambridge festival of nine digital devices and arguments, and after some splendid bouts of Balderdash with various combinations of my extended family, the reality principle casts its sober light once more on Propagandum Towers. This follows, of course, the … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter and the Publishers’ Holy Grail IV

Posted on 16 December 2011 by Propagandum

I have been trying in the three previous Harry Potter posts to look at what went right with J. K. Rowling’s book series. In the first half of this final wildly ambitious post I’m attempting to get somewhere near a theory … Continue reading →

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