Do we still value a character and their ‘journey’ if we bring in hypertext?

Characters are given meaning because of their experiences, journey, emotional turmoil and intellectual/personal development, pain, anguish, love, betrayal, the pursuit of happiness, conquests, challenges, overcoming adversity…

If we are to understand the account, be the agent behind the ending, and ‘read’ it in non-linear order- does the character still progress independently in our minds? do we like them more or less? how does this affect how we relate to the story and the character?

I read on about this multilinear myriad, ‘Novels Without Endings’- What if you had a book that changed every time you read it? rather than observe the narrative as marks on a page, you ‘enter’ it. You participate, you live the story, enrich the experience and perils, and understand and relate to characters more so because the journey becomes personal to you and your choices. Titanic: An Adventure Out Of Time is one such approach, ‘you have slightly more than four hours to wend your way through a series of torturous plots and sub plots, deciding which to follow and which to bypass…’ Idea of hypertext narrative removes the common trajectory and character development of the classic linear novel.

But what’s to be said about EPIC narrative? withstanding the test of time, experience, emotion or context, ‘as immersive as an absorbing film or novel…’ I don’t think a DIY ending would ever measure up to the original. These epic novels are described by a reference to Victor Nell in Lost In A Book; “Ludic,” the sense of becoming so immersed in a narrative that we become ‘lost’ in it. Would we become ‘lost’ in hypertext and lose our sense of ‘truth’ or our moral compass for that matter? our favourite narratives powerfully speak to us as ‘mere marks on the page’, what would come of it if it were deconstructed and demoralised as the narrative responds to our moods, whims and latest fetishes? indeed, ‘a fantasy that has never been explored in print’, but how would we recover the magic of the epic ending? the perfect shock or elation, a pin point reference for our highest aspirations or our greatest fears?

‘One of the purposes driving interactive narratives is the desire for the inexhaustible story’ have you ever read Lord Of The Rings? you never read that the same way twice. you change, your relation to plot, protagonist and patience changes. Closure is a driving force- if our favourite character dies unexpectedly we want to jump into the pages and re live our moments with them, or alternatively now, ‘closure would be something you determined’, not J.R.R Tolkein.’Eight possible conclusions finish the narrative’, I understand this as eight possible reactions, possible character demise/thrive, possible miracles. As i think more about it, i feel that it takes away the ‘truth’ to narrative, can you still get ‘lost’ in the story if you know you can just go back and change it if the outcome doesn’t suit your need for endless possibilities. the idea of multiple trajectories robs the narrative and the author of hopeful imagination in a way. If they don’t find ‘the one’ we can revisit that path later, or avoid this path next time, or correct that misjudgement there.

That’s life we’re talking about- this is fiction.

The romance of novels is lost- the serendipity of endings and connections and choices. ‘Even if you become used to reading this way, it is hardly likely that digital media like hypertext are going to supersede books’, because when would you be ‘done’ with the book? when you’re exhausted? In your pursuit of closure, how would you be satisfied that the ending you chose was the best outcome for all characters you are now responsible for? especially since future readings could potentially trigger new twists and opportunities.

It’s like the Sims- an addictive, immersive world with ‘frame based authoring systems enabling writers to cycles through the possible plot possibilities eliminating many of them and specifying appropriate choices or priorities for situations where the story pulls from multiple directions’ So, if you’re exhausted by that lead, kill them off. they have no emotional intelligence anymore- they’ve seen too much.

Would we become desensitised to the EPIC?

Will future readers begin reading print works differently from the way they do now? from becoming accustomed to changing the structure and outcome of a narrative and character developments, would the ‘epic’ still have such accolades? will Lord Of The Rings still be an epic series of quests with unlikely and inspiring heroes or will it be something we revisit in years to come when we just need closure.

Douglas, J. Yellowlees. The End of Books — Or Books Without End?: Reading Interactive Narratives. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000. – Excerpts from week 6 reading.

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