Leonato: "I learn in this letter that Don Peter of Arragon comes this night to Messina." Messenger: "He is very near by this: he is not three leagues off when I left him." Leonato: "How many men have you lost in this action?" Messenger: "But few of any sort, and none of name."
This Elizabethan exchange can be read on a website claiming to contain the web's first edition of the complete works of William Shakespeare (http://chemicool.com/Shakespeare/). The opening scene in Much Ado about Nothing is a wonderful illustration of how communication has changed over the centuries. Cables, satellites and phone lines are now the messengers bringing information to our homes. Transmission is virtually instantaneous, for journeys of many thousands of leagues. Vast libraries of information are at our fingertips.
This site contains all of Shakespeare's plays, but poetry and other services, including the search engine and forums, will return shortly, we are informed. Unfortunately, this message was posted in November last year so "shortly" has lengthened into almost a year.
Reading Shakespeare's plays online is not the same as holding a book in your hand, though the ample line-spacing on this website makes it a clear read. However, the eyes tire more quickly and the experience lacks the leisurely feel of reading a "real book". I wonder if anyone has read an entire book or play on screen?
Of course, books can be printed off, but surely that defeats the purpose? And, you end up with a messy bundle of pages rather than a bound volume that you can shelve easily. However, as a quick reference guide, this type of full-text site is useful. Think about school pupils who have forgotten to bring their copy of the play they're studying home with them or crossword fanatics who need to find that quotation in a hurry.
Poetry, in its brevity, is an easier read online. Although it's something of a surreal experience to sit in a busy office, surrounded by feverish typing and shrill phones, and read lines like the following: "Still has become already,/ and yesterday's rose/ a red dove, swept away/ with a leaf whisk." From Hesterna Rosa by Maeve McGuckian, the poem is flanked by a link inviting the reader to "comment on these lines".
McGuckian's poem is posted on the Irish Writers' Centre website (www.writerscentre.ie), which includes samples of writing from various contemporary Irish writers. It is hoped that the eventual anthology will be representative of contemporary Irish writing. For the present, contributors are authors who have written at least one book. Also on the website, Loose Horses is a collection of eight stories commissioned by South Dublin Council. These are available in both written and audio formats.
The website serves a variety of useful functions, providing a biographical database of contemporary Irish writers, a directory of writers who are available for readings and workshops, writers' groups, and newspaper article references on contemporary writers and writing.
With a broader focus, but a narrower remit, a website of British and Irish authors on the web lists authors from Geoffrey Chaucer to John Banville and Salman Rushdie (www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/UK-authors.html)
The problem with literature on the web is not the dearth of it but, rather, the overwhelming flood of information unleashed simply by typing the name of an author such as James Joyce. For instance, try choosing from 759,000 Joycean references, found in six seconds using the Google search engine.
The familiar suddenly seemed comforting, so I clicked on the James Joyce Centre, based in Dublin (www.jamesjoyce.ie/ home/index.asp). This introduces itself as "the essential starting point from which to embark on a personal odyssey through his (Joyce's) life, his work and the source of his inspiration". A beautifully designed site, a pleasure to peruse.
For those who are intrigued by the fragments they have read online, and who want to follow up by purchasing a "real book", there are numerous e-retailers waiting to receive your credit card details and forward the merchandise. Often, this can be quicker than waiting for your local bookshop to place an order for a volume it doesn't have in stock.
One of the most surprising bargains on Amazon's website (www.amazon.com), when EL logged on, was a copy of Colin Powell's autobiography, reduced from $25.95 to just $7.99. With Powell's current prominence in world affairs, one would have thought it would be selling at full price.
The average customer review of the book was very positive (four stars) with one reader saying: "The best autobiography I have ever read. Colin Powell had something important to say on many topics. A well-written book that had to be long". Written on July 14th, prior to the "War on Terrorism", this comment presciently remarks: "Assuming a long healthy life, Powell's contributions to America are far from over."
