Astro Hacker News - Ergodic Literature

dmbche |next [-]

Good reminder to check back on House of Leaves. Didn't like it but it keeps nagging at my brain, I must have missed something.

It's quite exhausting to read though.

Although thinking about it now I remember feeling the author being kind of cruel in making things hard to read/understand with that as the purpose (the real excentric stuff at the end), it put me off. Maybe I just don't like it.

xelxebar |root |parent [-]

House of Leaves is one of my favorite books. The vibe is eerie, sublime, and otherworldly. IMO, you'll find more enjoyment if you approach it more like going for a hike than like being taken for a ride.

That said, if you're looking for something similarly wacky but easier to get into, Hall's The Raw Shark Texts, or maybe even S. by Abrams and Dorst, are worth a gander.

dmbche |root |parent [-]

Thanks! I'll have a look, have a good one.

Trace88 |next |previous [-]

These rely so heavily on physical layout that e-readers basically ruin the whole experience.

jhbadger |root |parent [-]

Some of them maybe. But remember, "Choose Your Own Adventure" counts as ergodic, and those are actually improved by e-readers as it is more immersive to press on a link to make a decision than to turn to a specific page. Also, although I've not seen an electronic copy, I'd imagine "Dictionary of the Khazars", which is basically a fictional encyclopedia, could be improved by links the way Wikipedia is more pleasant to use than printed encyclopedias.

aynsof |root |parent [-]

Doesn't it get _less_ ergodic if it's easier to read?

Waterluvian |next |previous [-]

This is essentially what Myst is, isn’t it? It has a clear start and end. But the books are visited in any order. And as a bonus; the pages of the red and blue books are reassembled in any order.

smitty1e |next |previous [-]

I did a story once where the the action gradually departed the main text and shifted into footnotes on the page.

The whole story was silly, and that particular page was "stunt writing", so I'm not quite sure that it qualifies.

There is also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manuscript_Found_in_Sarago... which was made into an interesting movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059643/

That's more about recursion than anything.

greatgib |previous [-]

Wikipedia is so dead sadly. I like the purpose but each time I go browse it they do something to disgust me in the way of news websites filled with ads.

Usually I have the full page of warning with flashy colors to give money because they are a fake critical dire situation.

Today, instead, I have more than half of the page wasted with a giant warning block:

Only a few readers have discovered the Wikipedia app!

   Want a smoother reading experience and access to exclusive features? Try our free app today—no ads or paywalls, as always.

How a app will make me a smoother reading experience than scrolling the simple page of text in my web browser that is designed for that except if there wasn't a giant ad for their app...