Reading the Classics on a Smartphone

It's sneaky! And often free!

At the Harry Reid Airport on my way to visit Mom and Dad—he’s still at the nursing home but getting stronger and chattier every day. The airport is close to my house so I decided to try taking the bus. It worked better than I expected and now I’m really early for my flight. I can see the Strip skyline from my vantage point in Terminal 1. Along with the basic glass and steel rectangles there’s a pyramid, a medieval castle, and a skewed, squashed NYC.

The airport makes me think about books and how we read them. Ted Gioia recently noted that he felt increasingly uncomfortable reading books in public.

Maybe I’m misinterpreting the pervasive vibe of brat culture. But the result is that, over time, I’ve become self-conscious about reading in public—something I’ve done all my life, but never before with such unease.

I don’t take a physical book with me when I make these trips to Stockton. It’s more about space than anything else. I only take a carry-on. On a flight like this, a checked bag can almost double the price.

So I’ve gotten used to reading on my phone. A book is a fast download that you can then read on airplane mode. Using my phone, I’ve read Mansfield Park, Moby Dick, The Betrothed (thanks to Substacker Naomi Kanakia for that recommendation), The Three Musketeers, and a collection of short stories by Guy de Maupassant. Currently, I’m working through some Chekhov short stories. Every single one of these books were free. I did have to go back to an older translation of The Betrothed but whatever.

What I love about reading on a smartphone is that it’s compact and the battery lasts long. I don’t have to rummage around below my airplane seat to bring out my laptop. I already need the phone for everything else so it’s going to be in a handy spot. And while I’m flying, I don’t have to worry about being distracted from my reading with some other app.

I also love that I can read anywhere, and I look like just another addict staring at a phone. I’m stealth reading. It feels positively subversive. I do a lot of phone reading at the Stockton airport bar, too. It’s so much better than having a physical book, which at a bar can be a bit of a statement.

What I don’t love about reading on my phone is the relentless attempt at gamification of every last human experience. Before I turned off my notifications, a little banner would pop up on my screen while I was reading that said, “Goal met.” What goal? I didn’t set any goal. I’m reading a story! Not everything is a fucking game. But when I finally rooted around in settings and turned everything off, the whole experience became more independent, and thus more like regular book reading.

**

We went to see a variety show at the Plaza called “Mavericks” and I loved it. The performances were bawdy, creative, and funny as hell. The Plaza showroom is a piece of Vegas history, and everything was downtown prices, including the show. I was wishing for a time machine to the ‘70s the other day, and this was about the closest anyone could get. Here they are taking a bow.

A few days later, we watched John Huston’s Moulin Rouge starring Jose Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec. A forgotten classic from 1952. The old Moulin Rouge as it was portrayed reminded me of the raucous scene at the Plaza. Zsa Zsa Gabor is a confection. Also, the scene where they print the first lithographs is worth the whole movie. They go through the process of how his first posters for Moulin Rouge were created, including some technological innovations developed by Toulouse-Lautrec. There’s also long, loving shots of the antique machinery and the workers producing the posters. The movie is free on YouTube.

Finally, here is a phone recording of me playing “Fascination” on the piano - a song that dates back to the same time as the Moulin Rouge era. I am strictly a parlor piano player, in the old tradition. The last generation of girls who learned piano as a signifier of decent family standing. Just trying to manage expectations here.