# Un-Kindle-able books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 19, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622 "2010-10-19T03:08:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/1 "2010-10-19T03:08:16Z")
I recently read a great book but there were several textual elements that, while not essential to the plot, were noticeable and added to the book. Whenever a certain singer was mentioned, it was in a different font. Text messages were also rendered in their own font, sometimes to ominous effect. And finally, at one point the narrative breaks down and random words and symbols are spread across the page. I notice that this book is also available in Kindle format. Not having a Kindle, I don’t know what is possible and not, but I assume everything gets the same font and spacing could be a problem. Are different fonts available or is every book exactly the same? Can the Kindle handle footnotes? It seems a shame that readers wouldn’t even know that they are missing anything if they get the Kindle version. What other books are also un-Kindle-able? I notice that _House of Leaves_ isn’t available on Kindle (seeing as the Kindle doesn’t do colors, I guess that’s not surprising) for example. Are there others? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/2 "2010-10-19T03:10:53Z")
In the second Twilight book there is a unusual approach taken to showing the despondent passage of time. It was somewhat less effective in Kindle format (even though handled in a similar way). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/3 "2010-10-19T03:15:58Z")
Parts of Alfred Bester’s **The Demolished Man** and **The Stars My Destination**. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/4 "2010-10-19T03:20:58Z")
I don’t think _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_ will be available in ebook form any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/5 "2010-10-19T05:04:44Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think The Very Hungry Caterpillar will be available in ebook form any time soon. By the same token, I’m not sure _The Monster at the End of This Book_ would work very well, either. On a more serious note, _The Neverending Story_ is written in two different colors of ink (green and purple, in my copy), and the colors end up being very significant. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/6 "2010-10-19T07:05:14Z")
The standard Kindle format has a standard format and spacing, but publishers can also choose to use the Topaz format, which preserves the font and some other textual features. Some readers dislike books published in Topaz, because the embedded fonts can be harder to read and can affect things like the ability to resize text, search features, text-to-speech, etc. but it can also be used well to good effect. Page layout can be a bit trickier with the Kindle, because there are no pages, per se. The amount of text that fits on the screen depends on the user settings. I’ve seen some books that simply store each page (or parts of a page) as an image instead of text. That certainly allows things like picture books to work, but it completely disables a lot of the features of the Kindle, and can be done very poorly as well. Nevertheless, a sufficiently determined e-book designer could probably make any book formatting work more or less well on the Kindle, **except** for any formatting involving color. Even that could be done in the Kindle file (for images, at least; I’m not positive about text). It wouldn’t show up on a Kindle device, but you can read Kindle books on a computer, iPhone, iPad, or Android phone. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/7 "2010-10-19T07:08:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > By the same token, I’m not sure _The Monster at the End of This Book_ would work very well, either. > > On a more serious note, _The Neverending Story_ is written in two different colors of ink (green and purple, in my copy), and the colors end up being very significant. Well, I expect ebook readers will have color displays soon enough. However, a crucial element of **Caterpillar** is _holes in the pages_. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/8 "2010-10-19T07:54:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > On a more serious note, _The Neverending Story_ is written in two different colors of ink (green and purple, in my copy), and the colors end up being very significant. It took a bit of searching, but I eventually found a copy of _The Princess Bride_ published before the movie came out. The abridger’s notes within the main text were printed in red. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/9 "2010-10-19T09:17:06Z")
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie A really good book, but you need to be able to see the cartoons and doodles for it to make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/10 "2010-10-19T09:42:02Z")
Raymond Federman’s novel [Double or Nothing](http://www.amazon.de/Double-Nothing-Real-Fictitious-Discourse/dp/1573660752/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books-intl-de&qid=1287480695&sr=1-2) is also un-Kindle-able. The same is true for many works of dadaism where the deconstruction of language is also expressed in the visible structure of the text on the pages of the book. And during a Frankfurt Book Fair, I stumbled upon a book that had pages with spots of different scents - try to emulate that on a kindle. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/11 "2010-10-19T12:29:26Z")
**Pat the Bunny**. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/12 "2010-10-19T13:04:39Z")
I’m guessing that _House of Leaves_, with it’s non-standard layout, would be a problem for Kindle or any current e-reader. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/13 "2010-10-19T13:48:45Z")
How does the Kindle handle books with lots of footnotes, like Mary Roach’s books, or lots of endnotes, like the Flashman books? Are footnotes shown on the page, and perhaps there’s a link to the the endnotes? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/14 "2010-10-19T15:26:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I’m guessing that _House of Leaves_, with it’s non-standard layout, would be a problem for Kindle or any current e-reader. Came in to mention **House of Leaves** , but you beat me to it, and the OP beat us both. heh. Another that comes to mind is **Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance**. There’s a font shift at the end, at least in newer editions of the book, that clarifies some point or other (been a long time since I’ve read it). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/15 "2010-10-19T15:33:51Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Came in to mention **House of Leaves** , but you beat me to it, and the OP beat us both. heh. :smack: I didn’t even see it up there! ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/16 "2010-10-19T15:34:24Z")
The older Crichton books were unique in their formatting, and I think really lended to their popularity… in both The Terminal Man and Andromeda strain they used at the time exotic "computer text " communiques and conceits. Doubt it would be a problem on kindle though. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/17 "2010-10-19T15:50:04Z")
Books that come with significant illustrations… lots of the early Agatha Christie mysteries come with the floor plan of a house or a railway carriage, and one comes with the scorecards from a bridge game that is played early on. Does Kindle do illustrations? Likewise, some of Lewis Carroll’s works include original illustrations which aren’t necessary but which add a lot–I remember in particular a map of a ship’s location in the ocean. The only feature on the map is the ship. And what about the maps and runes in Lord of the Rings? _Tristram Shandy_ has lots of in-line gobbledegook which is outside the boundaries of typesetting. Scribbles, dots, etc. I guess a Kindle Bible wouldn’t be doing the words of Jesus Christ in red, either. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/18 "2010-10-19T16:07:01Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Books that come with significant illustrations… lots of the early Agatha Christie mysteries come with the floor plan of a house or a railway carriage, and one comes with the scorecards from a bridge game that is played early on. Does Kindle do illustrations? > > Likewise, some of Lewis Carroll’s works include original illustrations which aren’t necessary but which add a lot–I remember in particular a map of a ship’s location in the ocean. The only feature on the map is the ship. > > And what about the maps and runes in Lord of the Rings? > > _Tristram Shandy_ has lots of in-line gobbledegook which is outside the boundaries of typesetting. Scribbles, dots, etc. > > I guess a Kindle Bible wouldn’t be doing the words of Jesus Christ in red, either. I’m pretty sure you can display jpegs on a kindle for illustrations. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/19 "2010-10-19T16:16:46Z")
I’m waiting for the hologram Kindle, so I can have pop-up books. Seriously, my first thought of un-Kindleable books would be the [Griffin and Sabine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Griffin_and_Sabine_Trilogy) trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622/20 "2010-10-19T16:31:51Z")
I have read a lot of these already in print without the extras. My copy of Never Ending Story had no multiple colors. Neither did my copy of the Princess Bride. While I like the text/font changes, most books can be done without them. I did laugh though to see a free e-book on Amazon called “The Illustrated book of birds” and every review was complaining how the book didn’t have any illustrations. Why even put it on, then? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-kindle-able-books/557622.md?page=2)