While I try to find a copy of whatever literature I am talking about and perusing it before writing these posts I found it quite difficult to do so this time.
Choose-Your-Own-Adventures novels are not part of my collection, so there will be no review today. This is all building up to Interactive Fiction (people following this blog will know) so be assured that I will be making my way through ZORK (hopefully in it’s entirety) before next Friday.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
"Turn to page 7 to...."
Those of us (like the author) who grew up in the 80’s or early 90’s may remember a collection of books known as “Choose-your-Adventure”. These books were written to get children more interested in reading, by making it an active, rather than passive, pastime.
It should be rather easy to see why these can be considered literature, after all, they have binding, words, and story lines. Why should this blog then spend time on this subject, considering how easy it is to point out it’s literary merit.
The answer lies in Interactive Fiction, of which “Choose-your-Adventure” books were a precursor. These are software simulations allowing for a broad range of choices, not just “Turn to page 5 to kick the dinosaur egg”. We’ll get back on board with those at a later date.
I realize this post is write short, but I feel that is was necessary to at least bring up these books to use as a stepping stone for something a little more difficult later.
It should be rather easy to see why these can be considered literature, after all, they have binding, words, and story lines. Why should this blog then spend time on this subject, considering how easy it is to point out it’s literary merit.
The answer lies in Interactive Fiction, of which “Choose-your-Adventure” books were a precursor. These are software simulations allowing for a broad range of choices, not just “Turn to page 5 to kick the dinosaur egg”. We’ll get back on board with those at a later date.
I realize this post is write short, but I feel that is was necessary to at least bring up these books to use as a stepping stone for something a little more difficult later.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
“The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” by Haruki Murakami is perhaps my favorite book and a surprisingly deep, Kafka-esque, post-modernist romp through the world underneath our feet. If it is so great though, why do I have such a hard time describing it?
The basic plot of “Wind-up Bird” involves a man named Toru and his wife that goes missing. That’s all that can really be said without giving away too much. And really, anything else that is said out of context comes across as very...silly (yes that's the word). This is not to say the book isn't serious or lacks depth, but rather that separated out it would be very hard to enjoy some of the plots if they weren't part of the whole.
In many ways the books serves to be a critique of Japanese culture, particularly the proliferation of fads and the corporate structure prevalent in the island nation. There's plenty to take away even if you have not been able to experience Japan first-hand however.
The main draw of the book comes from the binary worlds that Murakami crafts (something he is not totally unfamiliar with: see "Hard-Boiled wonderland and the End of the World")and how they bleed together. It’s a dynamic that has been done over and over again, and yet Murakami finds a way to really make it feel like a natural extension to the waking life and in some ways completely organic. After digesting the novel one may find themselves questioning how much of the novel is fiction.
Murakami's latest work was released jsut yesterday, so why not go out and pick this novel and that as well?
10/10 but your mileage may vary.
The basic plot of “Wind-up Bird” involves a man named Toru and his wife that goes missing. That’s all that can really be said without giving away too much. And really, anything else that is said out of context comes across as very...silly (yes that's the word). This is not to say the book isn't serious or lacks depth, but rather that separated out it would be very hard to enjoy some of the plots if they weren't part of the whole.
In many ways the books serves to be a critique of Japanese culture, particularly the proliferation of fads and the corporate structure prevalent in the island nation. There's plenty to take away even if you have not been able to experience Japan first-hand however.
The main draw of the book comes from the binary worlds that Murakami crafts (something he is not totally unfamiliar with: see "Hard-Boiled wonderland and the End of the World")and how they bleed together. It’s a dynamic that has been done over and over again, and yet Murakami finds a way to really make it feel like a natural extension to the waking life and in some ways completely organic. After digesting the novel one may find themselves questioning how much of the novel is fiction.
Murakami's latest work was released jsut yesterday, so why not go out and pick this novel and that as well?
10/10 but your mileage may vary.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Zombies!!!
The author would like to first apologize for the lack of an update yesterday. There are excuses I could give, not the least of which involves a bottle of wine and a film from the 1930’s.
Since we began discussing board games Wednesday I want to take the time to analyze Zombies!!! published in 2001 by Twilight Creations.
Before we begin discussing the game as literature I would like to note that my family and friends find this game very fun and has been at the center of more than one night of entertainment.
As a game Zombies!!! comes packaged with tiles (which you use to make the board as you play), miniatures, cards, dice, chits, and the rules. That’s quite a hefty amount of items for one board game. All of these things can be seen as tropes, but having a lot of mechanics and tropes does not necessitate a good piece of literature.
Most of the pieces are necessary and very useful, although my friends and I find the cards to be of less use. most of the time they get discarded, forgotten about, or are never used. This is a good example of a game that has glutted itself on tropes and therefore undermines it’s value as literature.
As a simulation and a story-telling device Zombies!!! is both excellent and terrible. The chances for success and failure when fighting a zombie are 50/50 (although you have some small amount of control over the end result), which to me seems very realistic and it does add to sense of dread while playing. This is a great way to get people afraid and to represent the terror of the situation.
the objectives however make the game less realistic and less in keeping with the theme. There are two ways to win the game; first is by being the first to reach the helipad and the second is from killing 25 zombies. While the 25 zombie limit makes the game quicker to play, I find it weakens the the story-telling element. How does killing 25 zombies exactly secure victory for a person? It’s this question that casts doubt on this games legitimacy as high literature.
The rule book does come with a brief tale to set the stage for the game, all of the art is gruesome, which ties greatly into the themes and sense of foreboding.
Overall Zombies!!! is a great game (although it takes quite a bit of time to play and is very random)but a poor choice of literature. Keep in mind that the scores provided reflect the evaluation of the game as literature, not the quality of the game itself.
3/10 but your mileage may vary.
Since we began discussing board games Wednesday I want to take the time to analyze Zombies!!! published in 2001 by Twilight Creations.
Before we begin discussing the game as literature I would like to note that my family and friends find this game very fun and has been at the center of more than one night of entertainment.
As a game Zombies!!! comes packaged with tiles (which you use to make the board as you play), miniatures, cards, dice, chits, and the rules. That’s quite a hefty amount of items for one board game. All of these things can be seen as tropes, but having a lot of mechanics and tropes does not necessitate a good piece of literature.
Most of the pieces are necessary and very useful, although my friends and I find the cards to be of less use. most of the time they get discarded, forgotten about, or are never used. This is a good example of a game that has glutted itself on tropes and therefore undermines it’s value as literature.
As a simulation and a story-telling device Zombies!!! is both excellent and terrible. The chances for success and failure when fighting a zombie are 50/50 (although you have some small amount of control over the end result), which to me seems very realistic and it does add to sense of dread while playing. This is a great way to get people afraid and to represent the terror of the situation.
the objectives however make the game less realistic and less in keeping with the theme. There are two ways to win the game; first is by being the first to reach the helipad and the second is from killing 25 zombies. While the 25 zombie limit makes the game quicker to play, I find it weakens the the story-telling element. How does killing 25 zombies exactly secure victory for a person? It’s this question that casts doubt on this games legitimacy as high literature.
The rule book does come with a brief tale to set the stage for the game, all of the art is gruesome, which ties greatly into the themes and sense of foreboding.
Overall Zombies!!! is a great game (although it takes quite a bit of time to play and is very random)but a poor choice of literature. Keep in mind that the scores provided reflect the evaluation of the game as literature, not the quality of the game itself.
3/10 but your mileage may vary.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Alternative Literature: Board Games
Welcome to the first discussion of alternative literature! I know, I know, it’s all very exciting.
For this first installment we will be discussing board games. Before we begin however we do need to specify the term board game a little.
A board game is a subset of a group of games known as tabletop games, these would include tabletop RPGs, card games, war games and of course board games (which, no doubt, is the most well known version of tabletop gaming). There are two things that separate a board game from it’s tabletop brothers. The first is that the game is self contained, no other pieces must be bought, nothing has to be painted, and no one has to prepare the game in any way (other than become familiar with the rules). The second is that they generally come with a designated play area; a board , if you will. These differences mean that the games are fairly easy to pick up, cheap to produce, and, even if they are rather expensive, ensures a fairly cheap, cost/play ratio.
Now why then does the author insist that these games are literature. The answer is simple: they are story -telling and story creating devices. A board game simulates something, a romp through Candyland, the decisions involved to create a Monopoly, or the everyday problems of Life (see what I did there?) Board games have the edge over books in some ways because they engage the players to live through these dilemmas, even if they are watered down versions.
What I mean when I say they are story-creating devices is also simple. I’m sure that nearly everyone can name a time that the dice landed in their favor at the last minute, or through a shrewd play they were able to win the game. These kinds of stories don’t amount to much, but they are stories after all.
This may seem very general, and it is. In later installments we’ll be looking at rule books, the type of dice used, and even what the board looks like in order to gain a greater appreciation of this form as literature.
On a final note, those in Geekdon will notice that I have only specified very generic and in some ways some of the worst board games ever produced as examples. Rest assured that I play plenty of different games, I’m not limited to Milton-Bradley.
For this first installment we will be discussing board games. Before we begin however we do need to specify the term board game a little.
A board game is a subset of a group of games known as tabletop games, these would include tabletop RPGs, card games, war games and of course board games (which, no doubt, is the most well known version of tabletop gaming). There are two things that separate a board game from it’s tabletop brothers. The first is that the game is self contained, no other pieces must be bought, nothing has to be painted, and no one has to prepare the game in any way (other than become familiar with the rules). The second is that they generally come with a designated play area; a board , if you will. These differences mean that the games are fairly easy to pick up, cheap to produce, and, even if they are rather expensive, ensures a fairly cheap, cost/play ratio.
Now why then does the author insist that these games are literature. The answer is simple: they are story -telling and story creating devices. A board game simulates something, a romp through Candyland, the decisions involved to create a Monopoly, or the everyday problems of Life (see what I did there?) Board games have the edge over books in some ways because they engage the players to live through these dilemmas, even if they are watered down versions.
What I mean when I say they are story-creating devices is also simple. I’m sure that nearly everyone can name a time that the dice landed in their favor at the last minute, or through a shrewd play they were able to win the game. These kinds of stories don’t amount to much, but they are stories after all.
This may seem very general, and it is. In later installments we’ll be looking at rule books, the type of dice used, and even what the board looks like in order to gain a greater appreciation of this form as literature.
On a final note, those in Geekdon will notice that I have only specified very generic and in some ways some of the worst board games ever produced as examples. Rest assured that I play plenty of different games, I’m not limited to Milton-Bradley.
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Road
“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy is a very unfortunate book. I don’t mean to say that it is terrible, because that is far from the case. Rather what I mean is that it is very unfortunate to have had perhaps one of the worst adaptations into film I have ever seen.
McCarthy is perhaps best known to the majority of the world as author of “No Country for Old Men,” primarily due to the film. But to be honest, “The Road” is truly where McCarthy reaches his ape as an author.
The book is a gritty, depressing take on the “post apocalyptic” genre. For those unfamiliar with the themes there in allow me to explain. The world as you know it has ended. This could have been from nuclear war, bio-terrorism, global warming, or aliens crashing on earth. Whatever the reason the world is desolate.
McCarthy seems to be unbothered by many of the tropes within the genre, and instead focuses on the relationship between a man and his son. They travel together, trying to beat a winter to the ocean. On their way they come across cannibals, slavers, and various other people, all looking for a way to survive in the hostile world.
Unfortunately the author (of this blog) can’t discuss the true power of this book without giving away the ending. For those of you who saw the film and turned off, please give the book a chance. Despite McCarthy’s writing style (or perhaps because of it) the books reads phenomenally fast, while still being one of the densest pieces of literature to ever have been written.
10/10, but your mileage may vary.
McCarthy is perhaps best known to the majority of the world as author of “No Country for Old Men,” primarily due to the film. But to be honest, “The Road” is truly where McCarthy reaches his ape as an author.
The book is a gritty, depressing take on the “post apocalyptic” genre. For those unfamiliar with the themes there in allow me to explain. The world as you know it has ended. This could have been from nuclear war, bio-terrorism, global warming, or aliens crashing on earth. Whatever the reason the world is desolate.
McCarthy seems to be unbothered by many of the tropes within the genre, and instead focuses on the relationship between a man and his son. They travel together, trying to beat a winter to the ocean. On their way they come across cannibals, slavers, and various other people, all looking for a way to survive in the hostile world.
Unfortunately the author (of this blog) can’t discuss the true power of this book without giving away the ending. For those of you who saw the film and turned off, please give the book a chance. Despite McCarthy’s writing style (or perhaps because of it) the books reads phenomenally fast, while still being one of the densest pieces of literature to ever have been written.
10/10, but your mileage may vary.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Now this is a predicament
Wednesday’s post has left the author in somewhat of a pickle. How can he do a review on an alternate piece of literature when there wasn’t even a discussion in the first place on it’s legitimacy?
Well in order to save face and to not discuss something stupid (no jokes about the blog please) I have decided to give a brief overview of some “alternate literature” that I intend to discuss.
Music – This is a simple one. Music and even music videos are archived in the Library of Congress and are an important part of many people’s lives. Why then do I need to discuss it? The answer is simply that I find music is not treated as literature, but rather as it’s own category. While there is merit in this I feel it would behoove anyone interested in studying literature to consider music as a form.
Movies – Again this is an art form that doesn't seem to need much conversation, in fact many people watch more movies than they read books. My reasons are similar to listing music as a form of literature.
How-To Guides – Now we’re breaking into the meat. Literature is interesting because it becomes a time capsule of sorts. Even the most mundane instructions can shed light on the language of a period and the way it’s people processed information.
Tabletop Games – The interesting thing with tabletop games is that it may be the closest modern equivalent to the storytelling that was done ages ago. This is a very broad topic so we will be examining several different sub categories.
Video Games – Many people would prefer to liken video games to art, but it is the authors opinion that they are in reality closer to books than movies. We will be taking a much closer look at this in coming weeks.
That’s all I have for now, but you can be sure that there are many more forms of alternate literature to be discussed.
Cheers!
Well in order to save face and to not discuss something stupid (no jokes about the blog please) I have decided to give a brief overview of some “alternate literature” that I intend to discuss.
Music – This is a simple one. Music and even music videos are archived in the Library of Congress and are an important part of many people’s lives. Why then do I need to discuss it? The answer is simply that I find music is not treated as literature, but rather as it’s own category. While there is merit in this I feel it would behoove anyone interested in studying literature to consider music as a form.
Movies – Again this is an art form that doesn't seem to need much conversation, in fact many people watch more movies than they read books. My reasons are similar to listing music as a form of literature.
How-To Guides – Now we’re breaking into the meat. Literature is interesting because it becomes a time capsule of sorts. Even the most mundane instructions can shed light on the language of a period and the way it’s people processed information.
Tabletop Games – The interesting thing with tabletop games is that it may be the closest modern equivalent to the storytelling that was done ages ago. This is a very broad topic so we will be examining several different sub categories.
Video Games – Many people would prefer to liken video games to art, but it is the authors opinion that they are in reality closer to books than movies. We will be taking a much closer look at this in coming weeks.
That’s all I have for now, but you can be sure that there are many more forms of alternate literature to be discussed.
Cheers!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
On tropes
It occurred to the author that before we can take the plunge into exploring alternative literature piece by piece, it would do everyone a service to discuss how to go about such a discussion. As an English major, the author assumed that the discussion of tropes should be self explanatory, but as he wants this blog to be open to more people than the elitists that he is a part of, it should be discussed here.
In literary studies there are hundreds of different ways to read any one piece. Generally however people find themselves falling into camps. Some scholars prefer looking at the time period the work was written in (these are called New Historicists), others focus on class or gender struggles (Marxist readers and Feminist readers, respectfully), and still others argue that there is no “right” way to read a book as everyone’s interpretation will be different (Deconstructionists). While the author of this blog does read literary theory from all camps he finds himself mainly in the New Historicist and Formalist (looking not just at word choice and grammar, but evaluating the tropes of a text as well). As that is the case we will primarily be examining these alternative literature through these lenses (please feel free to offer any other literary criticism in the comments however).
Now that the basics are done we can get to the meat.
When examining anything in literature it’s important to understand the genres’ tropes and the common themes. In poetry this is very easy to recognize, rhyme and meter are easy to determine.
An example in poetry would be a poem with a very rigid rhyming structure (ABABAB for instance). Now on the final four lines we get a different pattern (BACC). The poet is using this change to tell you something, in other words the poet wants you to pay attention to these lines especially.
This isn’t limited to rhymes of course, and it’s certainly not limited to poetry. In rock music a song follows a pattern as well (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus). So what is a song trying to say when it strays from this path (chorus, bridge, verse, chorus)? What does it mean when a color film switches to black and white, or in a video game when your character doesn’t die?
It’s these questions we will be asking. When I introduce a piece of alternative literature I will do my best to lay out the tropes for that genre, and in doing so help explain why this form of media deserves to be read as literature.
Cheers!
In literary studies there are hundreds of different ways to read any one piece. Generally however people find themselves falling into camps. Some scholars prefer looking at the time period the work was written in (these are called New Historicists), others focus on class or gender struggles (Marxist readers and Feminist readers, respectfully), and still others argue that there is no “right” way to read a book as everyone’s interpretation will be different (Deconstructionists). While the author of this blog does read literary theory from all camps he finds himself mainly in the New Historicist and Formalist (looking not just at word choice and grammar, but evaluating the tropes of a text as well). As that is the case we will primarily be examining these alternative literature through these lenses (please feel free to offer any other literary criticism in the comments however).
Now that the basics are done we can get to the meat.
When examining anything in literature it’s important to understand the genres’ tropes and the common themes. In poetry this is very easy to recognize, rhyme and meter are easy to determine.
An example in poetry would be a poem with a very rigid rhyming structure (ABABAB for instance). Now on the final four lines we get a different pattern (BACC). The poet is using this change to tell you something, in other words the poet wants you to pay attention to these lines especially.
This isn’t limited to rhymes of course, and it’s certainly not limited to poetry. In rock music a song follows a pattern as well (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus). So what is a song trying to say when it strays from this path (chorus, bridge, verse, chorus)? What does it mean when a color film switches to black and white, or in a video game when your character doesn’t die?
It’s these questions we will be asking. When I introduce a piece of alternative literature I will do my best to lay out the tropes for that genre, and in doing so help explain why this form of media deserves to be read as literature.
Cheers!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Machine of Death
Machine of Death is an interesting collection of short stories that originated with a comic by Ryan North, the author of the extremely funny “Dinosaur Comics” (found here), turned editor.
The basis of the book is the possible outcomes of knowing how you are going to die (but not exactly how, as the machine will gleefully make the prediction somewhat vague, but never incorrect). This leads to questions of humanity and how to properly use that information.
The tales span from the Machine’s creation to some rather horrifying futures. While the far future stories are fascinating it’s the spaces between these two extremes that feel the most realistic and ultimately make for more compelling tales. The pictures that accompany every story reflect the mood of the stories well and it's wonderful to see so many talents come together in this collection.
My personal favorite, “Fudge” by Kit Yona, was actually the second story in the collection. I can’t talk too much about it without giving the whole story away, but the minor twist at the end is the most human reaction to the circumstances I can imagine.
Much of the beauty in Machine of Death comes from the culture it was created in however. The authors range from video game pundits to other web-comic artists. In other words, the book was born out of the enterprising spirit of the internet.
Along with that comes something even more wonderful however. The book is completely free online for anyone interested in reading it. Published with an open license that makes the book free to distribute and replicate, there is no reason not to read this collection (apart from a general dislike of reading, at which the author will scoff and dismissively ask “Well why are you even here then?”)
9/10, but your mileage may vary.
Read the book
9/10, but your mileage may vary.
Read the book
Sunday, October 9, 2011
What I write about
For the various blogs that I read, there seems to be one common thread, regardless of topics. This commonality resides in a proper update schedule, along with various topics occurring on different days. In this post I would like to lay out my ideas for that schedule and let you know when to check back for what.
Posts will begin occurring on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This gives me the weekend to write and edit everything before making an ass of myself on the internet.
The Monday post will be used to review anything I have been reading lately. Generally I read a mix of fiction and poetry collections, but this will branch out as the blog continues into non-fiction and other written works.
Wednesdays will be reserved for the ultimate goal of this blog and discuss the literary merit of alternate story-telling forms. I will most likely take on whole genres at a time (or focus on a specific aspect of a genre) and discuss how viewing it as literature allows for a richer understanding of the material and it's place in the world.
And finally, the Friday posts will provide a follow-up to Wednesday’s, by providing an example of this “Alternative Literature”, a review of it, and the ramifications of treating this piece as literature.
Before I go I would like to also mention that I encourage all of you to comment and reply with book recommendations, ideas for topics, or any news of interest for this work.
Check back on Monday for my first review!
Friday, September 30, 2011
The thesis begins at word # 183
The author of this blog (that’s me) would like to assume that the title has struck the reader (that’s you) in one of two ways.
The first is that the reader responds with anger, a sense of detachment and a not-so-subtle feeling that the author is nothing more than a pretentious half-witted hipster using a flash of poetry (and only two lines at that) to appear more intelligent than he is. We will not dissect this further as the readers who do have this gut-wrenching reaction have already left.
On the other side of the coin the author sincerely hopes that the reader is left with a feeling of intrigue and perhaps have questions bubbling to the surface of their conscious. After all a blog about dreams could hardly be rewarding (many readers may even nod at this thought recalling the peace of the morning being broken by a lover describing their nocturnal visions in boring detail).
For those still with me I will discuss the title soon enough, but I’m already 173 words into this post and haven’t delivered the thesis.
The purpose of this blog is to discuss literature, in forms familiar and in forms that may shock you.
Literature as per The New Oxford American Dictionary is “written works, esp. those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit.” Now I have no personal vendetta against the fine folks over at the Oxford, but this definition seems to be lacking in many ways, enough so that I choose to reject it out right.
But what good does rejecting this definition do? For this blog it allows us to look at things that are unwritten as literature. Examples of this would be music, film, digital worlds and even various games.
Now all of these things can be transcribed. A game has rules that an be read, music can be written, and films have scripts, however we must be mindful that these genres are not intended to be enjoyed in this method. You read sheet music to play it and the script of the film is just a starting point.
My goal is to prove that all these are indeed literature by opening up the definition into something more akin to “a creative endeavor that strives to tell stories.” I do this out of a love of literature and the desire to plant that same love in others by pointing out that literature surrounds us, no matter where we go or what we do.
To go back to the question of title, the short poem provided was written to make the reader question their standard for reality. It stands to reason that we are then questioning the reality of literature.
I apologize for the length of this initial post, if the girth intimidates take solace knowing that the entries will decrease in size.
Cheers to all!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)