Second Life Literature

You might think this post will be about literature in Second Life. People writing books, blogs, and such about Second Life objects or concepts, or just what's happening in it in general. You are wrong.

I forget the exact article, but apparently the literary interest in Second Life isn't that you have a new world to pen ideas about, but that you can experience the world of that novel. You can build the land of Oz and walk through it.

But then, what's the point? One of the selling points of reading is the openness of the medium. Your imagination builds from the words a world or image or movie, and the beauty of it is it's tailored to each person. You craft in your mind Alice's wonderland, for example, but I'll craft a different idea. It resonates in that we both understand wonderland.

That's rather sketchy. Let's put it this way. Take Harry Potter. Take the fourth book in the series. When I read about the hedge maze near the end, I really pictured something dark, and foreboding. I pictured an oppressive maze, with suffocating darkness enveloping each person and when they met, it was really a surprise just as it was for the characters, because of that. In the movie, it was just foggy. I suppose it had to be brighter due to constraints (people like to see the movie than 'feel' it), but it ruined it a little for me. I never pictured fog. I didn't picture the weird vine thingies, either.

I like making a world based upon the author's words, and filling in the details with my imagination. That assuming it is a good well written book. Seeing someone's interpretation ruins it for me. I'll bet if I made the 4th Potter movie, my idea of the hedge maze wouldn't fit with someone else's. And neither of us probably liked the movie version.

You can probably see where I'm going with this. Seeing another person's recreation of a book isn't going to do it for me. I don't want to see someone else's idea of Dante's hell, because I know it'll never compare to what I have in my head. Ditto for other works.

An interesting idea, but one I'd avoid or avoid doing. Sorry.