heartNovels

 Karen H. I found the differences between the Asian and American culture mentioned in the article, I Heart Novels ( heartNovels ) by Dana Goodyear, rather striking. The authors mentioned in the article all used pen names to protect their privacy, where here in the U.S. gaining recognition for one's work is as defining of success as having the talent to produce a work. Mone, took painstaking measures to insure her identity and the privacy of her family, and that of her husbands family after writing "Eternal Dream". I also found it noteworthy that the authors of the cellphone novels all had other careers and did not write the novels to provide a source of income but as a way of managing their emotions or as a way to maintain control over their circumstances. The article describes these authors as one's who have stumbled upon the success of their novels, even after winning awards for their creations. This humility is almost unheard of by recognized artists in the States, with maybe a few exceptions, such as J.D.Salinger.

Peter Quattrociocchi III In response; it is extremely difficult in this current world, as an author, to have a profession as such. One would either have to be lucky by becoming extremely famous to make any sort of money off a book. Also, there are plenty of reasons to be anonymous, because sometimes people don't want to be known about what they write and is understandable. If one looked at all the books Amazon sells, I am sure not even half the authors go around how awesome they are that they made a book. One should also know that Amazon might as well be highway robbers the way they treat people (authors, save for popular books like the Harry Potter series, only literally make a couple pennies off each book sold).

Matt Burroughs In response to Peter: it makes perfect sense to me that an author would want to have their name known. Spreading your name around generates interest in you, which helps your books sell. I realize the point of these stories aren't to generate revenue, but I feel these stories are something to be proud of and a name should be attached to it so you can take credit for your work.

Jeffery Reynolds: I think the most interesting point I take from such a story is how different I am from today's youth culture. I would find the idea of writing a story on a cell phone to be a painful, headache provoking experience. And yet clearly there is a place for this style of writing. I agree with the original poster, though, that it does show how different our two cultures are. Western authors tend to be thrilled by attention, regardless of how taudry their works might be considered.

James Le After reading "I <3 Novels", the first thing that came to my mind was manga. I only recently became a big fan of manga. I was never truly interested in reading before, be it newspapers, novels, or magazines.I would always lose my interest due to the readings pace, my ignorance of it's diction, or the lack of understanding of the overall plot. The last paragraph in "I <3 Novels", is what made me think of manga. Kiki mentioned that the cell-phone novel that she read 4 years ago, "Deep Love", was easy to read and that she could relate to it. It had basically started her interested in reading. My situation right now feels the same so I can relate. It's interesting how some harshly criticize these cell-phone novels. Debating if they are literature or not, and if they are they could possibly "kill the traditional author". From what I have read, these cell-phone novel authors don't seem to be trying to make a revolution in literature. They are merely expressing themselves and their experiences, so that their cohorts might relate and find interest in their "literature".

Matt Burroughs This reading was largely interesting to me for two primary reasons. The concept of cell-phone writing seemed extremely bizarre to me at first glance. Continuous writing on a cell phone seems like such a cumbersome, awkward experience, where expression is difficult due to the physical restraints of the phone. But after a quick comparison to the feverish nature of cell-phone text messaging (texting) in America, writing so much from a phone didn't seem so odd. Especially after the reading outlined the type of culture these writers were writing in, where true expression which often results in debate or confrontation, is looked down upon; and where most families own a single, shared computer. In that context, the connectivity supplied by cell-phones seems perfectly natural, and the transition to the next step as using a cell-phone as a medium for expression via the internet and free publishing sites seems just as natural. Being a blue moon reader (reading once in a blue moon, get it?), most of what I've read that I've considered to be "literature" has been on paper. However, these cell-phone stories now seem just as legitimate, simply a different part of the same literary machine. I find it interesting that these stories seem to be so negatively viewed when they are so wildly successful. That even one of the most prominent cell-phone writers disregarded herself as part of the literary community, and felt embarrassed about what she had published. That seems so bizarre to me, they are transporting these tales that people obviously find interesting to a rapidly growing base of readers that for the most part seem to positively affect the people reading them, giving them something to relate to or empathize with. Isn't that something to be proud of? To be the creator of something that touched vast amounts of people in a good way. Which leads me to my second main point of interest, the prevalent nature of anonymity amongst the authors of these cell-phone books. It seems completely odd to me that these authors want to keep their identities a secret, that the use of pseudo names and false internet identities are so common. I understand wanting to keep a low profile when telling a story that is usually only a thin layer of paint away from your own personal story, but the force of the anonymity is what gets me. At one point in the reading, Mone mentions how she thinks it's embarrassing for anything to be revealed. That seems extreme to me, I feel like knowing how close the story is to the real life equivalent serves only to strengthen it by providing some legitimate roots. Like how for a while it was very popular (and still is) in movies to mention that it was "based on a true story" to heighten the sense of realism. I suppose it's a cultural gap.

Will Gallagher It is cool to see a different kind of writing form. The cell phone novels seem like an interesting medium, but they cannot be anymore threatening to traditional literature than tweets are to traditional social networking. There is a new niche, that is for for sure, but does it have the long lasting appeal of a true book? I do not want to demean any writing style, because each has its own interesting facets. For instance, I like that cell phone novelist will cram words together to create a sense of tension. Bringing typography into your story telling is a neat idea. The anonymity actually does not seem strange in the specific context of these works. I think this my have something to do with their close link to the online world, where anonymity is key. Even if young women ceased to be embarrassed about telling these kinds of stories, I would not be surprised if the anonymous tradition carried over anyway. I think one of the most important things about the story of cell phone novels is what they represent for readers and writers. No, I do not believe novels will die off, but these new mediums, easy to read //and// write in short sittings are a great filler for rides on public transportation or short breaks at work where reading part of a full book might be difficult.