Submitted by Greg on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 02:24.
No, I'm not talking about the A&E Channel. If you habitually watch A&E, I'm sorry.
In class today, we discussed interactive literature, hypertext media, and tried to understand why it never really "took off." It's hard to read a book that wants you to do more than read. I know that sounds silly, but a historical look can only confirm this.
The novel has not changed very much since the times of Jane Austen, Dickens, or Poe. Popular literature is very straightforward, there are a few twists, the characters are round, and the main character undergoes some sort of change by way of overcoming a conflict. The rules are not that hard to follow.
There is literature that attempts to do things otherwise, such as the short stories of Donald Barthelme, Italo Calvino--books that really change the way a person reads. But they are not popular in the least, and frankly, they do not sell. Why do you think there is an ever-shrinking "Fiction - Literature" section at Barnes & Noble? Genre fiction is what sells. read more »
