Tag Archives: Waterstone’s

Owen loves books – and Waterstone’s

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Owen browses in Waterstone's Amersham

I love books. So I’m thrilled that Owen seems to be following in my footsteps.

He had a wonderful time today in Waterstone’s in Amersham. He made straight for the Mr Men and Little Miss books – his current favourites, along with Roald Dahl. He’d have happily stayed for hours.

Books are so important to children and adults. They bring to life the pleasure of the story, often with added impact of illustration. (Anyone who has enjoyed a Julia Donaldson story will acknowledge how much Axel Scheffler‘s illustrations bring the tales to life.) And part of the joy of books is returning to a personal favourite, time and time again.

As I watched Owen browsing the shelves at Waterstone’s today, I pondered again the future of the printed book. You might think that electronic, or e-books, are bound to replace their printed predecessors. Yet I’m not so sure. The printed book remains a thing of beauty – to be read, treasured, lent and re-read. You can flick quickly to an earlier page or illustration. The book itself is relative cheap and doesn’t rely on expensive hardware. It never runs out of battery, and can be read when you’re on a plane that’s taking off. (And in the bath – I’ve not yet been brave enough to read on my iPad in the bath.)

There’s certainly a place for e-books. I’m always pleased to have one with me on the iPad if I’ve nothing else to read on a train. But never assume that new technology will always sweep aside what went before it. The internet hasn’t replaced television, which didn’t replace radio, which didn’t vanquish newspapers. Cinema is still going strong despite TV, DVD and the internet. All have their unique strengths.

But parents still have a crucial role to play in helping printed books to flourish. We’ve read to Owen since he was a baby. (In fact, I made up stories to tell ‘him’ when Karen was pregnant: storytelling to a ‘bump’!) We’ve read to him every night for three years. We each choose a book at bedtime. It’s no wonder he likes books!

It has encouraged him to start to read far earlier than he would otherwise have done. It means that reading won’t be a blank page when he starts school proper in September. It’s one of the greatest gifts we could have given him.

PS: for a brand based on literacy, Waterstone’s seems very confused about its name. It uses Waterstone’s (which must be right, as it was named after its founder, Tim Waterstone) and Waterstones…

Tony Blair: A Journey for the showman prime minister

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IMG_1436
 Tony Blair was Britain's finest showman prime minister since Macmillan, as I blogged after his last Labour conference speech in 2006. So it was little surprise that today's launch of Blair's autobiography, A Journey, was a theatrical event, dominating news bulletins. 

But Labour's longest serving prime minister's attempt to restore his tarnished reputation seems doomed. Blair now admits he thought Gordon Brown was an impossible, deeply flawed character. Yet he made no attempt to move Brown from the Treasury, and lied to the British people about his chancellor's suitability for office when Brown took over in 2007. 

Nick Robinson, the BBC's political editor, today apologised to readers of his blog for not telling the full story about the Blair-Brown feud. Yet we all knew of this poisonous schism – I read The Rivals, James Naughtie's book about the TB-GB storms, in 2003 with a growing sense of anger at this pathetic, juvenile relationship, and despairing of the lost hope of May 1997. 

Yet despite this, and my contempt for the way Blair trashed Britain's reputation by involving us in the invasion of Iraq, I still half admire this extraordinary politician. (In the same way that some still worship Margaret Thatcher.) He won three elections in a row for Labour. He played a huge role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland, building on earlier efforts by John Major, Bill Clinton, Bertie Ahern, John Hume and Gerry Adams. He delivered devolution to Wales and Scotland – despite not sharing predecessor John Smith's commitment to home rule. His government saw renewed investment in public services, even though many questioned how effectively the money had been used. Blair himself must wonder how high his reputation would stand if it hadn't been for Iraq, although we'd still be facing a ruinous deficit thanks to Labour's lax regulation of the banks' casino activities. 

Blair claims that Labour could have won a fourth term had it not abandoned new Labour. That strikes me as a crazy claim. Gordon Brown didn't lose in 2010 because he became old Labour. He lost because the British people disliked him, because he and Blair created the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s – and because of their love of spin and sleaze. Ironically, Labour's late move to create a 50% tax rate was popular, belying the idea that old Labour tactics couldn't succeed. (A law to tax 100% of disgraced banker Fred Goodwin's income would have been acclaimed.) 

I'll quote just one passage from Tony Blair's book, as it is sobering:

"On 2 May 1997, I walked into Downing Street as prime minister for the first time. I had never held office, not even as the most junor of junior ministers. it was my first and only job in government."

I've bought my copy of Blair's book from Amazon on the Kindle, to read on my iPad. It's an interesting insight into book publishing in 2010. The full price of A Journey is £25. Waterstone's is selling the hardback for £12.50, as is Amazon. Apple's iBooks store isn't selling it yet, but is likely to offer it for £12.99 if its offer for Peter Mandelson's The Third Man is a guide. Kindle is the best offer: A Journey is just £6.99. I prefer iBooks to the Kindle app on the iPad, but as I recently blogged about iBooks, it will never take off until it offers far more titles at far lower prices.