Reading a
hypertext is a very refreshing experience. In a certain way you can feel the
owner of your own fate, obviously in reading. The differences between a printed
book and a hypertext lie, mainly, on TOOLS. They give you the freedom of
choosing which way you want to take, where you want to go, in which way you
want to do it, etc. All and above, without knowing where you are going on. It
makes me feel vertigo and an extreme curiosity. I should add the various
effects that you can find in a hypertext, for instance, music. It has been
chosen by the author and normally fits perfectly with the narrative atmosphere
and the reading environment. Pictures and animations can be the perfect frame
that involves you for a quiet reading. A very pleasant experience.
About Time is the first hypertext that I have had the pleasure of
analyzing. Inside About Time there are two stories; Mouth’s Journey
40,000 Years Ago and The De Granville Files Present Day. The first
one tells the story of an aboriginal clan of Australia, their moves in the
continent, their needs, and their inventions. In other words, how they are
evolving along the time and the difficulties that they find. The second one,
located in our days, tells a man’s story whose job is to think, or better, to
muse. He has discovered that it is the best way for living a good life and he
is well paid. He suffers some anguish when time is running on and he is not
able on having any idea.
In reading About Time I could not avoid to remember Thornton
Wilder. Thornton Wilder
had an interesting idea about ‘Time’. He thought that past, present and future
should not be considered separately. In Our Town, a Wilder’s play that I
read some years back, past, present and
future exist at once. Curiously in Swigart’s fiction seems that Time is thought
in a similar way, and the order is not important. The order of the time is not
important in the structure of About Time or, in general, in any
hypertext.
Another important thing, talking about hypertexts, is the accessibility
to the author. I have not ever tried to contact an author before, but in this
case I sent an e-mail to Mr
Swigart and he answered me very fast. He offered me his help, answered my
doubts and said me that he was pretty interested in my paper. Such a
sympathetic behaviour encouraged me very positively for doing the work. I do
not know if traditional writers, I mean writers whose works are printed, are so
accessible. Anyway, he gave me extra-information about different aspects of his
hypertext and URLs where find more texts, etc…
Summing up, a wonderful experience, full of lovely nuances and
surprising contacts.
Thanks to everyone and cheers.
P.S. Is there anyone who knows what is going
on, in hyper-literature, in other laguages?