The Novel’s Nervous Breakdown
So far the new technologies have had more influence on how I read than how I write – though the relative ease of researching online has fed into my writing practice. I haven’t engaged with publishing online though there are a lot of things about it which interest me beyond the massive advantages of it appearing practically free and theoretically capable of widespread distribution. The idea that a text doesn’t have to be finished to be published is not new – plenty of novels have been issued in serial form – but the notion of it being almost infinitely extensible is, precisely because it never has to take on a physical identity and the idea of hypertext, not in the form of footnotes at the bottom of the book’s page, but in some other place on the web, extends its virtual presence much further, maybe developing the idea of reading within a text rather than reading through it.
Richard Marshall interviews Bridget Penney, author of Index.
Epicurus Denied
Here the marketing of the English translation stands out, “Michel Houellebecq meets Patrice Chereau”. Well, at least it’s not British columnists Rod Liddle and Nirpal Dhaliwal pretend writing at being Houellebecq, for a change, though it takes up their stock themes of entanglement (older man/younger woman) within the media class. Pages are so arranged as to give equal perspectives on the unfolding affair and descent into obsession, her thoughts on the left, his on the right (rather like toothbrushes in a bathroom).
Andrew Stevens on Denis Robert‘s Happiness.
3:AM Reloaded
What you (may have) missed on 3:AM recently: Fiction: ‘Ever After’ by Nicholas Hogg, ‘The Elect’ by Gavin J. Grant, ‘The Silent Lily’ by LetÃcia Palmeira (courtesy of 3:AM Brasil), ‘Dog’ by Jeremy C. Shipp Flash Fiction: ‘Piglet ‘ by Anne Elliott, ‘This is Only a Test’ by Tiff Holland Reviewed: Max Dunbar on David […]