I keep reading and my reflections keep changing. Robert Coover's article about a class in writing novels using hypertext in the 1990s suggests that e-books that use hypertext can't be read in print. The non-linear format does not fit the linear format of what many of us recognize as a book. It's interesting that he does refer to my concern about technology changes: "
its hardware and software
seem to be fragile and short-lived; whole new generations of equipment and
programs arrive before we can finish reading the instructions of the old." para 19.
An interesting question he raises is one of closure. When does the story end and if an author writes a hypertext novel, are they obligated to keep the story going?
I recall a History of the Novel class I studied in university where we looked at how stories were told in the beginning and how that has changed.
Perhaps hypertext novels are a new genre. We're not just talking about taking a 'print' novel and putting it into electronic format, although that has been my limited understanding until now.
