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Lit Editor: Alexandra Wilks | Copy Editor: Candice Ritchie
By Becky Richmond, Literature Team
The world is changing; over 200-million people use
Facebook and Twitter every day. As the internet world
grows and becomes part of our world, we must adapt to
incorporate and embrace this technologically-advanced
world. Although the Kindle and e-books are a step in the right
direction for embracing technology and social networks, AJ
Hanks, the author of a new ‘interactive novel’ sees these as
a tofu hot dog: something replaced but with no real benefit.
Why replace a printed book with a Kindle when you could get
a novel on the iPhone attached to your arm?
AJ’s new novel Someplace Unknown offers a simple website
design to appreciate, essentially, the writing behind the
technology. With no real page turning it feels more like
reading a diary rather than a novel, which makes you engage
with the characters on a whole new level. The interactive part
is just as simple and effective. Pictures during the chapters,
interesting and sometimes seemingly irrelevant, draw you
back into the novel. The experimental structure of the book
hopes to engage the reader’s imagination by allowing them
to interpret their own meaning of the pictures. AJ hopes that
the reader evolves as they read the novel and he’s excited that
the website can evolve as technology does.
The technological advances surrounding this novel aren’t
the only thing about the story. The novel is very well written,
The Stag | 22 nd May 2012
LiTERATURE 25
Someplace Unknown
Are you the
next Strauss,
Freud or
Saussure?
By Sophie Vickery, Literature Team
To be a critic of literature
has got to be one of the
best jobs in the world. Just
imagine English Literature
students and professors of
the future spending hours of
dedicated revision, research
and work following and
applying your opinions and
theories. But how does one
become an English critic?
The first step to take, and
perhaps the most obvious, is
to read, and to read widely.
This helps to acquire not
just knowledge of different
genres, contexts and
writers, but it also triggers
inspiration, opinion and
ideas by comparing texts
against each other.
The second step to
becoming a critic will build
this knowledge further as it
involves studying literature
at a deeper level. This may
involve taking a course in the
subject or pursuing a degree.
Any way of improving the
ability to analyse texts, ask
the right questions and
explore themes, symbolism
and flaws within texts will
improve the chances of
forming credible theories.
Another way of exploring
literature more widely and
to absorb a range of opinions
is to join a book club.
Weekly meetings bestow the
opportunity to challenge
ideas, discuss and hear
approaches you may not
have previously considered.
Finally, comes the most
daunting part; the writing
of your critique. This will
need to begin on a small
scale by writing literature
reviews. Starting a blog is
a great way of practicing to
critique books, especially as
few people will be inclined
to read the reviews of new
critics entering a world
abundant in established
professionals. Once the
reviews gain respect they
may be suitable for magazine
submission. This is a difficult
hurdle to overcome, but
once passed, critics often
find they gain much more
attention, as their theories
are immediately accessible to
wider audiences. Following
this, critics could find their
theories appearing in books
or as part of the research by
students.
Of course, this will
take a lot of hard work and
persistence and new critics
will need to be prepared
to overcome rejection.
However, the thought of
future generations sporting
your thoughts during
seminars, essays and books
is surely enough to support
perseverance and before
you know it you could be
the next Freud, Saussure or
Strauss!
“AJ hopes that the reader
evolves as they read the
novel and he’s excited that
the website can evolve
as technology does.”
it’s touching and it’s insightful. The importance placed upon
the technology doesn’t take away from the message of the
book, however. The book focuses on suicide, secrets and guilt
- such widespread and hard-hitting problems, and always
relevant. Someplace Unknown spreads the light on the secrets
and guilt that everyone has: the specifics may not be the same,
but they’re always there. The characters are interesting, and
you want to read on to find out the big secret at the climax.
Not only is the novel interactive in the technological sense,
but it interacts with you and makes you think about your
secrets, and after you buy the novel on the first website, you’ll
have access to a second website where you can share your
secrets with others, which is a proven therapy.
The novel engages you in more than one way.
Technologically, emotionally and personally. The novel is
beautiful; it’s touching, exciting and thrilling. Not only is it
beautifully written, it challenges the ideas of what a book is:
it’s a step forward and an embrace of the technological future
we will soon find ourselves in.