Doryjane Birrer
English 573
November 20, 1996
George Landow's statement that "hypertext blurs the boundaries between reader and writer" (Landow, Paragraph 7) established for me a set of expectations with regard to reading a hypertext work; I believed that I would be an active participant in the text, perhaps contributing to writing the text itself, perhaps filling in gaps of background information through links to other sites-at the very least, I believed my movement through the text would somehow shape that text in some distinctive, even individual, way. This, however, was not my experience with hypertext. Although the mode of reading hypertext differed in some respects from that of reading a printed work, I'm not certain this new medium allows the reader to "escape the confinements of print" (P22).
Because there seem to be a variety of works that fall into the category of hypertext (as I discovered from browsing through several texts), my experience with one text can hardly be considered comprehensive; my response to the medium, then, is admittedly limited in scope. Acknowledging this limitation, I will still try to explain why my response does not encompass a new sense of freedom with regard to reading hypertext. My initial attempt at engagement with my hypertext work of choice was unrelentingly frustrating-in other words, I got off to a bad start. I looked over several choices on the "Web Hyperfiction Reading List" at the address provided by Dennis Bennett, and was intrigued by the description of "rich madman skywrites over Disney World," which is said to have a "rite of passage aura" and "Disney-colored backgrounds" (the latter is what intrigued me most-what's a "Disney-color"?). After seven hours (spread out over two days) of attempting to link to this site and continually receiving notice that the server was busy, the suggestion to "please try again later" lost its persuasive charm.* By default, then, I moved to my second choice, "The Book of Endings," mainly because of its catchy title (and, of course, because the server wasn't busy).
The author (writer? creator?) of "The Book of Endings," Noah Wardrip-Fruin, labels his work a "network fiction," and states that
By this I mean that: It is organized as a network. It co-exists, and interacts, with other information that is part of a common network. It grows and changes. Over time, the network will continue to expand, connections will be re-routed-in response to stimuli, particularly reactions from the Web community.
The latter part of the description does seem to echo Landow's suggestion that a "hypertext system . . . offers the reader and writer the same environment" (P9). Wardrip-Fruin seems to be truly interested in feedback regarding his project, stating in the introduction to "The Book of Endings" that "I would appreciate your comments, particularly any that indicate characters or areas of the story, of this experiment, that you would like to see expand." I do appreciate the author's willingness to cater to the desires of his readers, and this willingness does differ from the traditional author/reader relationship in which there is no interaction. However, this model is not without precedent. I am thinking here of Charles Dickens, who often altered his serialized novels based on the response of his readers to certain characters or plot developments-in one case, to the extent of completely altering a novel's ending. I realize, though, that such author/reader interaction is not the norm, and hypertext may go far in allowing a reconception of author/reader relationships.
Although this new interactive relationship seems initially exciting, the innovation of audience input in "The Book of Endings" seems largely limited to interaction outside the text. As I read, I didn't feel that my movement through the text substantially contributed to, or shaped, the story; instead, it seemed that only comments directed to the author after reading would impact the text in any way. A description of the subject matter of Wardrip-Fruin's work might help explain my reaction. "The Book of Endings" is essentially a collection of vignettes involving one or more of a group of approximately thirteen characters. Each vignette enlightens the reader further about a particular character or characters and/or their relationship(s). There seems to be no overall storyline, although some of the scenes link together to form a more complete scene (either by adding details, expanding a previous scene, or depicting the same situation from a different character's perspective). Because there is no real "plot," the order in which the vignettes are read doesn't seem to matter; the only difference I can imagine among various readers' experiences with the text is that readers might learn details about characters in differing orders depending on their paths through the text. This type of experience is very different, say, than Ana Castillo's The Mixquiahuala Letters, where the order in which letters are read can substantially alter the tone, if not of the entire book, than at least of the book's ending. Although the vignettes in "The Book of Endings" are often interesting character studies, the medium in which they are presented does not seem any more "writerly" (to use Barthes' term) than if they were collected in printed form.
The work's mode of organization also does not seem particularly interactive. In terms of layout, "The Book of Endings" is described on the "Hyperfiction Reading List" as having an "interesting, slightly mysterious linking scheme"; I'm not quite certain what this means (aside from the fact that I agree that it's mysterious in that I have no idea how it works). Apparently, the text was designed for the "Pad++Zoom Interface" (again, mysterious to me), and the author provides an optional tour of how this interface works.** Because the technical language is beyond me, I'll describe my experience with the system as I understood it: clicking boxes. At the top of each screen are the names of the characters involved in the screen's vignette. After each character's name is a series of boxes which indicates how many other scenes involve that character, and a mouse click on any box takes the reader to another scene. If the reader has already clicked on a particular box, it turns gray, so it is fairly easy to determine when all the vignettes have been read; the methodical reader could conceivably continue to go back to a character's screen until all the boxes are gray, and then begin with another character, and so on (and I will admit that I was the methodical reader, so I know this process isn't just conceivable-it works). There are a few images the reader can click on as well; however, the majority of these images simply lead to character screens that can be reached by box-clicking just as easily, and the three that lead to other screens (vignettes not headed by character names) are dead-ends (they loop back to the previous screen). So when I say that the mode of organization doesn't seem particularly interactive, I guess I'm saying that I don't find box-clicking an exciting alternative to turning pages.
I realize that my reaction to hypertext at this point seems pretty
negative, but I think my flippancy is really a cover for my disappointment
at my first encounter with hypertext. As I've already explained, the only
real differences I noted between the new medium and printed text were a
busy server and box-clicking.*** I do know, though, that my response is
based on limited experience with the form, and I'm sure that there are more
interesting hypertext works out there. Hypertext also does seem to intersect
with postmodernism, though I'm not sure exactly how; as Tom Goldpaugh points
out "Trying to determine the boundaries of Postmodern Theory, Culture
Theory and HypermediaTheory is like trying to nail mercury. Hypertext is
still in a state of becoming" (P2). I find the latter part of the comment
encouraging, as it leads me to believe that more primitive versions of the
medium will evolve into more interactive experiences. Finally, Landow suggests
that the effects of electronic linking are so basic, so radical, that it
[hypertext] reveals that many of our most cherished, most commonplace, ideas
and attitudes toward literature and literary production turn out to be the
result of that particular form of information technology and technology
of cultural memory that has provided the setting for them (P36); this statement
causes me to question my response as a reaction against a mode of reading
that is unfamiliar, uncomfortable. I am generally open to new experiences;
however, sometimes it's difficult to acknowledge one's own biases. In any
case, I will probably check into hypertext again at some point (at the very
least, I still need to find out what "Disney-colors" are), but
for now, curling up with a good book provides an experience that sidling
up to a computer can't hope to compete with.
Goldpaugh, Tom. "Postmodern Theory, Culture Studies and Hypertext." (19 November 1996).
Johnson, Steven, ed. in chief. "Web Hyperfiction Reading List." In FEED, (15 November 1996)
Landow, George P. "Hypertext in Hypertext." On-line version of Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology. (15 November 1996).
Wardrip-Fruin, Noah. "The Book of Endings." (19 November 1996).