@Roundtrip @marick "In 1969, IBM and Ted Nelson from Brown University gained permission from Nabokov's publisher to use Pale Fire as a demonstration of an early hypertext system and, in general, hypertext's potential. The unconventional form of the demonstration was dismissed in favour of a more technically oriented variant." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext_fiction
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@marick The first time I read Nabokov’s #PaleFire, I decided to follow all of the links, depth first. I had to use six or seven numbered bookmarks to mark my place!
Since I was busy with other studies and CS, I read mainly late at night, but when I got sleepy, it took so much time to carefully review my bookmarks that I was wide awake again!
@Roundtrip Thanks. I did once dip into /Pale Fire/, but Nabakov is generally too cold and distant an author for my taste, so I dropped out.
In terms of your comment about the author’s job, did Nabakov do it or not? Did he make it too difficult for you to find yourself back?
@marick
Yes, Nabokov did his job — creating a novel experience. #PaleFire is a favorite.
No, he didn’t suggest a depth first tour, that was my idea as a CS nerd!
“Although those notes, in conformity with custom, come after the poem, the reader is advised to consult them first and then study the poem with their help, rereading them of course as he goes through its text, and perhaps, after having done with the poem, consulting them a third time so as to complete the picture.”
It was easy to navigate #PaleFire’s four sections: Foreword, Poem, Commentary, Index
I could freely read
1) Start to finish, like a traditional book
2) Exploring Commentary trails
3) Exploring Index trails (a treat)
4) Read the Poem sequentially (first or last)
5) Read the Poem and associated Commentary — as Kinbote suggests
6) Following Commentary trails depth first, as deep as I wished, switching to read Poem lines associated with notes as I travelled
7) Change order at will
@Roundtrip How well do you think the structure would have worked were it not an artistic experience? I’m thinking in terms of nonfiction narratives, which I think are approached with different expectations.
That is: did you approach the text expecting and welcoming a challenge?
@marick
I highly recommend the Audiobook performance of #PaleFire read front to back (including the Index) by two narrators:
Marc Victor - as John Shade (reading the Poem)
Robert Blumenfeld - as Charles Kinbote (reading the Foreword, Commentary, and Index in a mixed Slavic accent)
I didn’t think a front to back audio book reading would work well, but with the energetic performances it was thouroghly enjoyable, and often hilarious (the Index was a particular treat).
@Roundtrip I don’t think I finished /Pale Fire/ oh so long ago, and I probably read it before I was ready to think about hypertext. So: interesting. Thanks.
Although Nabakov doesn’t strike me as someone who goes out of his way to make things easy for the reader. He was likely aiming at a narrower audience than I think hypertext-enhanced narrative text should go for.
@marick You may recall that Nabokov — as Kinbote — in the Preface recommended a reading order that required purchasing two copies of the book. Pale Fire is the best example I know of an artfully crafted hypertext.
@Roundtrip @marick "In 1969, IBM and Ted Nelson from Brown University gained permission from Nabokov's publisher to use Pale Fire as a demonstration of an early hypertext system and, in general, hypertext's potential. The unconventional form of the demonstration was dismissed in favour of a more technically oriented variant." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext_fiction
Ted Nelson’s script for his proposed #PaleFire #Hypertext SJCC demo. Hypertext Editing System, 1969
@marick The #hypertext author should be expected to craft an interesting trail that’s rewarding to explore, and fit for purpose, like a well scripted scene for a movie — fictional or documentary.
@marick 🧵#Hypertext Trails
Brian — or anyone — can you recommend a tool or app that can use a reference to the head of a Mastodon thread like this to create a neatly structured sequence of posts as a document that can be edited into a coherent linear trail? Markdown would be best, but anything would be helpful.
Not limited to a single author or simply linked thread, but using a depth first topological ordering from the root.
@Roundtrip no but your going to lead us to one.
@Roundtrip Boy, that would be nice. But I don’t know.
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