The Atlantic

The illustrations are now included in the Kindle edition, and they've stopped cutting the questions out of Goldberg's advice column, so now the Atlantic is really worth the price.

I love The Atlantic, so I was ecstatic when I saw it on the Kindle list.

Overall, I'm disappointed. All the text is there, but no illustrations, graphics, or charts. One of my favorite sections is Primary Sources, filled with interesting charts and maps. For some reason, NONE of these make it to the Kindle. Nothing but text. I guess it sounds immature to say, "where are all the pictures!?" But I certainly miss them, and the content is not the same without them.

But again, it is nice to have some form of The Atlantic available. I hope the illustrations are eventually included.

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Since I don't get the paper edition anymore, I've been wondering how complete the Kindle edition is. I didn't really expect graphics, since most other Kindle periodicals don't have them or leave most of them out, but I was shocked when the latest issue of Atlantic in the Kindle edition had a list of the contents of the Election Special, but not the Special itself. Bummer.

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As much as I like the Atlantic, the Kindle version pales in comparison to the physical magazine. There is no reason photos, graphs and other visual elements should be left out.

I also dislike the index, which is just a listing of sections. I would much rather have a link to each individual article and a description of what the article is about. Nowhere is there a brief description of the contents of each article and the titles aren't always descriptive. Clever maybe, but not descriptive. So, I end up reading a paragraph or two before I decide whether or not it's something that I'm interested in reading. Occasionally this means I expose myself to something I might have skipped over, but I would still prefer to have some better cues.

The cost is low for the Kindle edition, but I would rather pay extra for the full experience.

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The Atlantic Monthly was founded primarily as a "literary and culture commentary magazine" for and by local authors such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., John Greenleaf Whitter, and James Russell Lowell back in 1857. On February 1, 1862, The Atlantic Monthly was the first to publish Julia Ward Howe's BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC. Until recently the magazine was known mainly as a "New England literary magazine". The Atlantic too has shrugged off its roots, no longer publishing much fiction beyond a summer special. Things have greatly changed between 1857 and 2009.

I started reading The Atlantic Monthly, or The Atlantic, as they now call it, back in 1963 while serving in the military. Read it all the way through college into the 70s and 80s, etc. While I go back to Elizabeth Drew, Ward Just, James Fallows, Edward Weeks, and who can forget Phoebe Lou Adams, among others, I find today's magazine worthwhile if for no other reason than the book reviews and writer profiles that frequently occur.

As with most magazines of today, The Atlantic Monthly is no better, no worse than most, though much less than it was once. Though it is more colorful than in prior years, it still has a lack luster to it. And the logo, The Atlantic, now in use while new to many readers, is the way the logo appeared back in the 1940s and 1950s. Sometimes I think the high money-bright idea people at the magazine are too clever for their shirts, I mean positions. I really mark The Atlantic's decline from the mid-1970s, various and sundry ailments from which it has never bounced back.

I assume the magazine has changed hands at least once, no longer coming from Boston but from Washington, D.C. I think The Atlantic's guidelines and direction have changed too through the years and doesn't always succeed. Undecided whether to be a literary magazine, a political magazine, a "People" knockoff, or a combination of all. However, as many reviews listed here indicate, The Atlantic doesn't always succeed nor please its subscribers.

But for the occasional 'good' feature and the book/author information offered I will stick with them. And as with many monthlies, they are now reduced down to 10 issues a year rather than 12. You receive 2 combined issues plus 8 others, that too seems the contemporary trend (helps with summer vacations and winter holidays). I prefer The Economist to most other magazines but the cost is far too prohibitive at $127.00 per year. So The Atlantic is my next choice, good or not so good.

Semper Fi.

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