The Raw Shark Texts

June 20, 2009 2:52 PM

The Raw Shark Texts (spoilers if you poke around) is a novel about conceptual fish by Steven Hall that is rife with typographic gimmickry and has an ARG-like element to it.

Negative chapters found so far are archived here.

Raw Shark Texts ≅ Rorschach Tests.

I should note that for some gimmickry is a bad thing, this book is probably not for them.
Personally, I love gimmickry.

posted by juv3nal (12 comments total)

I read this book a few years ago when looking for a lighter, winter vacation House of Leaves. It's fantastic in spite of because of the gimmicks. It's a perfect loaner book because it's accessible and very much open to interpretation.

I like the idea of having some content exclusive to certain language versions of the book, as far as books like this go.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:00 PM on June 20, 2009

Cool! Thank you for posting.
posted by sciurus at 3:25 PM on June 20, 2009

Thanks for posting this, juv3nal. I just read The Raw Shark Texts a couple months back and really enjoyed it. Glad to see there's some supplemental material that I can jump into.
posted by Donnie VandenBos at 4:05 PM on June 20, 2009

Just don't go jumping the Raw Shark...
posted by hippybear at 4:28 PM on June 20, 2009

I enjoyed this book but felt let down by the resolution -- I would have been a lot more satisfied if the ending hadn't been [ROT-13 SPOILER]na rknpg ercyvpn bs gur raqvat bs Wnjf[/ROT-13 SPOILER]. There seemed to be room for something else in the resolution than the literal treatment that we got.
posted by camcgee at 5:00 PM on June 20, 2009

On reflection, I think it's really misleading to call anything in that book "literal."
posted by camcgee at 5:11 PM on June 20, 2009

This shark...it wears a trenchcoat?
posted by Smedleyman at 10:36 PM on June 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Take care with this material. The Ludovician is in the internet: fact... I believe blue sites are easier for it to traverse than others. I've reset my desktop to this , but I don't know how long that will that will keep it back...
posted by yoz420 at 1:18 AM on June 21, 2009

yoz420: It's worse than you think. Metafilter is Mycroft Ward.

Seriously, I love this book and love this post for bringing me new info on it.
posted by etc. at 7:42 AM on June 21, 2009

Take care with this material. The Ludovician is in the internet: fact... I believe blue sites are easier for it to traverse than others. I've reset my desktop to this , but I don't know how long that will that will keep it back...

No worries, creepy staring Tilda Swinton's got my back.
posted by juv3nal at 12:09 PM on June 21, 2009

Also, OMG not only are there ARG-like elements to the book, there was an actual ARG to promote the book. (unfiction)
posted by juv3nal at 12:13 PM on June 21, 2009

I read this book before I read House of Leaves. To be honest, I enjoyed the latter much more. The Raw Shark Texts was a little too obvious for my tastes.
posted by spitefulcrow at 8:29 PM on June 21, 2009