Music, sound effects and all that Jazz in Books

This morning I was watching BBC and they introduced the concept of Booktrack, a soundtrack to your ebook. I was at first astonished, then disgusted, then numbed, and then resigned.
Ok, Ok, Iet me tell you something. I'm a very musical person. I've been singing before I could speak and even though I'm no Annie Lennox I think I know how to pull a note straight. Unfortunately I have no other musical abilities, I know the basics of guitar and bass guitar, but that's about it. This is quite frustrating, since sometimes my head comes out with such amazing songs and riffs, that if I could able to put them into real music, I'd be the best musician on the planet...and I'm being honest.
All this to say that when I read I think about people voices and faces. I think about how they dress and they move, and yes, I think about sounds and music too.
I don't know if this happens because I'm so into music, or if also other people do the same. The point is that, as I've previously mentioned, when I'm reading I zoom out of reality. It doesn't matter if I'm in a bus full of people or at home with people watching TV, if the book is good I just don't notice anything or anybody. Why, then, would I want something that distracts me? I know it's meant to follow exactly how you read and go with the story, but I think it's too much, I got movies for that.

So let's talk about Booktrack for a minute. 

Booktrack represents a new chapter in the evolution of storytelling, and an industry "first" in publishing, by creating synchronized soundtracks for e-books that dramatically boost the reader's imagination and engagement. The company's proprietary technology combines music, sound effects and ambient sound, automatically paced to an individual's reading speed. Funded by investors including, Peter Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of PayPal, and member of Facebook's board of directors -- and in partnership with the largest publishing houses, best-selling authors, and award-winning composers and musicians -- Booktrack is already well on its way to creating a new genre of entertainment.

Ok, now let me just  share some thoughts on all this:

• The synchronized soundtrack sounds amazing, but that's not bound to be perfect and accurate at all times. Basically, for what I understood, you'll need to read a sample and the computer will register your average reading speed. So far so good. What about when you receive a text and you stop reading to check it? Will the music and effects go on? How does the computer know when to stop? Probably you have to push a button or something, which is pretty annoying. But even more annoying is when you're not really focused on the book, or the text makes you think about other things, about landscapes, poems you had forgotten, memories...and you're so lost into it you need to re-read the same line 100 times (it happens to me, a lot!)! How does the computer know what you're doing in your mind!? How does the computer know how slow or how fast you'll read a certain book? Because my speed depends on the author, on the story, on the literary style. 
• 'Dramatic boost to the reader's imagination': I appreciate how some sea noises could be impressive during the reading of Moby Dick, but if you can't imagine those sounds in your mind without the help of a reading device, then you're sad. Really sad.
• When somebody on BBC Breakfast claimed that sometimes the noises and sounds were too literal (i.e. while reading Marching Powder aka cocaine, the noise of marching feet came up), and therefore not 100% reliable, the company said that they work closely with authors so that the soundtrack for each book will be just right. How many books do you think will then be developed in this way? It would take a massive amount of time, money and resources in order to 'translate' each book, or even a year's worth of books into booktracks. So I don't think it'll be very reliable, and that sounds will be add automatically by some computer.

I appreciate the fact that this has been thought for commuters, who already listen to their music while reading in order to isolate themselves from the crowd. I personally couldn't, I would get so distracted by the music that I would start singing and lose the plot. Music is the only thing that distracts me! But I see how this idea could work for them. 

I also think it would be great if the sounds and noises were added to a normal audio book, so you'd get to listen to the reader's soothing voice, wherever you are, and immerse yourself into the story, literally. I think that would be great and would definitely work with kids...but then again, that's not really a book, is it?

How to Read and Handle a Book

Sunday was a relative slow, relaxing day.
I spent most of the morning reading the big tome on my bedside table, Beyond Black, by talented Hilary Mantel. 

Synopsis and review HERE

A quite entertaining book, which I'm reading extremely slowly, savouring every word and page...why, between proofreading and various evening events, I'm always so busy! 
I also took the chance to dive into my new Lonely Planet guide to Greece, since the man and I have decided to spend 12 wonderful days in Santorini, in August. Since I'm definitely not your conventional tourist, I need to know well in advance where and when I want to go once I'm there.
Don't expect me to lay on the beach all day long. I won't. I need to run around, exploring, visiting museums, and tasting local food...and, ahem, wine.


Anyway, all this long introduction to write about something that really fascinates me: how people read and handle books.
Sometimes I think I have a very peculiar way to read and treat my books. I use them, mistreat them, rape them. Whenever I start a book, especially if it's brand new and, you know, rigid, I tend to open it up to the maximum, so much so that the spine creases in a million tiny wrinkles. Hard back, paperback, doesn't matter, I'm going to f*ck it up for good. That's why nobody borrows my books, ever.
I want to be able to spread each and every page. I hate words that disappear near the binding.
So after the first minute into the handling, my book is impossibly ruined. I tend to do the same with second-hand books. I cannot believe the state of some of these volumes! It almost scares me that some people handle their books with gloves, making sure they look like new. Brrr.

Another of my guilty pleasures when it comes to books, is the folding of the upper part of the page to keep track of my reading, or stuff that I'm interested into, like quotes and interesting locations. At the end of each reading session there are so many folded pages that I wouldn't have a clue about what's going on, where I am and why I made that mess. Dog-ears different in size, everywhere in the page. On the side, at the top and at the bottom. Just to make sure I remember what I wanted to. It never works, but I'm proud of actually using my books! They shouldn't be treated like the good tea set you're afraid of breaking and therefore never use.

I found this lovely poem by an unknown author, it's called The Folded Page and it goes like this:

"Up in an old attic,

as the raindrops patter down,

I sat paging through an old schoolbook --

Dusty, tattered, and brown.

"I came to a page that was folded down.

And across it was written in a childish hand:

"The teacher says to leave this for now,

'Tis hard to understand."

I unfolded the page and read.

Then I nodded my head and said,

'The teacher was right; now I understand.'

'There are lots of pages in the book of life

That are hard to understand.

All we can do is fold them down and write:

"There are lots of pages in the book of life

that are hard to understand.

All we can do is fold them down and write:

'The teacher says to leave this for now,

'Tis hard to understand."

"Then someday -- maybe only in heaven --

We will unfold the pages again,

Read them, and say,

"The teacher was right; now I understand.'"

When it comes to the death of a loved one --

Though complicated and less than perfect,

About all we can do is fold down the page and write,

"The teacher says to leave this for now,

'Tis hard to understand."

This could easily open a debate about digital products and their likeness to take over the publishing world. I won't go on and say that digital is the devil and we should all call an exorcist and stick to the holy printed page, especially because I'm a gadget freak. But there are some things that a digital product doesn't allow you to do. You can't fold a kindle, you can spread it wide open and smell it - although some people came out with this hilarious scents for your Kindle!
You can't stain its pages with the food you're eating, and when you go back remember how good that chocolate cake went with that specific chapter! 
I think that books still are the best and most enhanced publishing products, just because the reader fills them up with their memories, scents, stains, references. There's nothing more personal than that! 


Finally, I'm going to reveal my worst habit, ever. I tend to abandon books, indiscriminately, at 5 pages or so from the end. Usually the plot ends in the final chapter, and more likely in the first few pages of it. I have no interest for epilogues. The same thing applies to films I'm watching and songs I'm listening. I think that at that point I know what I need to know in order to find closure, and I also suspect that most authors are so tired of working on their book that they just write down whatever they feel like without revising it. I know I would. And I also noticed that very often the ending is disappointing and nowhere near the interesting style experienced throughout the book. 


But that's just me. I'm crazy.