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Rumpus Book ClubHypertext and The Novel
The past decade has ushered in e-books and e-readers, so why did hypertext fiction stall after its initial hype in the 90s? This article investigates that question, building a case for renewed vows between hypertext and novel.
“Just as the novel taught us how to be individuals, 300 years ago, by giving us a space in which to be alone, but not too alone — a space in which to be alone with a book — so hypertext fiction may let us try on new, non-linear identities, without dissolving us entirely into the web. It may give us room to concentrate on dispersion, to focus on distraction, and in that way, possibly, to get a sense of what we are becoming before the current sweeps us away.”
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