Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The End Of Books
While reading the article, The End of Books by Robert Coover, I found myself questioning some of Coovers ideas and conclusions. There is certainly no doubt in my mind how influential and groundbreaking hypertext was and currently is, however I do not think that books and hypertext are mutually exclusive. I was, and currently am a little confused as to what hypertext truly means in the context Coover talks about in his article. I understand that hypertext is media viewed on a device with hyperlinks embedded into it, yet I am not so sure what differentiates the internet from hypertext. Also in regards to hypertext fiction, I am either completely unaware of its impact, or Coover overrated its literary prowess. While it seems to me that hypertext fiction never really caught on with the general public, books are still widely available and being printed daily. It seems to me that E-books with devices such as iPads and Kindles are keeping books more relevant than Coover thought they would be. I would appreciate any feedback offering a little more insight into this article because I definitely feel as if I am missing something.
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Hi AG,
ReplyDeleteYa, I'm with you on this. I'm not seeing that the case for hypertext is made for actually replacing books. I certainly don't buy it. MY main reason for this stance is that, as if we as a society aren't ADD enough already, hypertext draws the reader away from the point being made. If hypertext is only intended to add depth,, or in a sense, make the story three dimensional, if you will, how is that different than embedding a quote or a graph / graphic in the text the way it is done in books now?
I live and die by hypertext in my resume now. I use hypertext so that if you want more specifics about certain things (previous employers, etc.), then you can go learn more while you are looking at my resume. In a book? Not so much what I want to do...
Hey AG!
ReplyDeleteI am in the same boat as you, I was a little confused as to what hypertext truly meant in the context that was talked about in this article. I was also not aware the influence and the supposed dramatic impact these "hypertexts" have on fictional books. Like you said, I think Coover's projection on this topic was overrated, because, first, I believe most people dont know what hypertext and hyperspace is. Second, books are still very strong, especially with the help of e-Books and such devices that support that sort of software. I dont think you missed anything from the reading, because what you wrote was exactly how I felt after reading this article.
-Rob
Hello AG,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. I to found myself questioning some of Coover's ideas and conclusions. To me the thought of hypertext being talked about so long ago really amazes me because its so ahead of its time. I think that books are dying out in todays society but i do know that a large part of the population still reads books. I know that I have read on one of those E-books on Kindle but i feel like books are more in the interests of older generations. This article was somewhat confusing on the points it was making but for the most part i pretty much understand it. Overall great post! Well done.