Oliver Twist… for iTouch

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

After a long string of work-related reads, I decided to do some more casual reading. One such book was Oliver Twist, which I discovered available for $.99 on the iTunes “App Store” for iPhone and iPod Touch.

I wondered if it would be reasonable to read a book on such a tiny screen, or a screen at all for that matter. After reading the entire book on my iPod Touch, I can say that the experience–while lacking in many respects–was well worth the conveniences gained. I used Oliver Twist as a gap-fill in my schedule; I read when waiting for the carpool or the bus. I found it to be an excellent way to use time that would otherwise go to waste, without having to carry around a big book with me all the time.

That said, the text is too small (or too large, depending on your zoom level), the paging is frustrating and unintuitive, and I would not recommend reading on any screen for long periods of time. The reason this worked well for me was more due to the duration of my reading stints than the appropriateness of LCD’s for book reading in general. When given a choice, I’d choose a paper book. But when on the go, the iTouch works just fine!

Oliver Twist is a delight of a book. I haven’t read Dickens in ages, and I don’t think that I’d ever fully appreciated his genius as an adult. It is inspiring. His metaphores and analogies are brilliant and witty, and his ever-twisting sentence structures add richness and uniqueness to his sarcasm. The story is a biting satirical picture of London in the then-current day, and it emphasizes the harsh duality of English culture: the rich, and everyone else.

I intend to read it again. For now it’s on to other books, and at least one of them will be on my iPod Touch!