Electronic text is a powerful source that has been out for a while but now can have a soul of it’s own. Electronic text like books is text you read however, electronic text is much easier to access as long as you have internet and a working computer for example. An electronic text that caught my eye “All Roads” was a interactive text you read little by little. This text is considered a game according to “Contents by Keyword: Electronic Literature Collection Volume one” and caught my attention right away because I enjoy playing games. Although I had no idea what to do at first, I quickly discovered it was a interactive book that I had to piece together in order to read. What really got me hooked was the description provided by the author Jon Ingold.
“Venice. The tight winding alleys and long dirty canals. Easy to become lost here, where every street emerges somewhere unexpected. In the central square a scaffold has been erected for your neck, and if only you can escape for long enough you might survive, but in this city all roads lead back to Piazza San Marco and the Hanging Clock.”
Right after reading the description I new it would be a book where I have to discover the text with key words or I will become lost in the text. I quickly became lost the first time but caught on quickly. The electronic book I felt had a soul of it’s own that was given by the Author. The text would actually talk back to me unlike a book. It would ask me questions which would make me think and engage me more into the text. I feel this was helpful in that I had to concentrate in order to move on and couldn’t just space off while reading.
What I also found interesting is this electronic text is a big puzzle/maze without my help however I quickly become lost in the maze until I am helped out by the soul of the text which helps me stay on track. I found “All Roads” to be a great way to engage me as a reader and make sure I am actually understanding what is happening in the text or I can’t move on in a way that makes sense.
April 11, 2010 at 1:08 am |
I wonder about the critical links you have in mind, birkerts or hayles. I sense with your last point that birkerts will be a useful critic for you, possibly a contrast with his notion of distraction vs. your experience of engagement.