Comments on: The Raw Shark Texts

The Raw Shark Texts

juv3nal — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:52:49 -0800

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.

By: Solon and Thanks

Solon and Thanks — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:00:23 -0800

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.

By: sciurus

sciurus — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:25:19 -0800

Cool! Thank you for posting.

By: Donnie VandenBos

Donnie VandenBos — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:05:38 -0800

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.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:28:08 -0800

Just don't go jumping the Raw Shark...

By: camcgee

camcgee — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:00:20 -0800

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.

By: camcgee

camcgee — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:11:30 -0800

On reflection, I think it's really misleading to call anything in that book "literal."

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:36:31 -0800

This shark...it wears a trenchcoat?

By: yoz420

yoz420 — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:18:53 -0800

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...

By: etc.

etc. — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 07:42:52 -0800

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.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:09:27 -0800

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:13:35 -0800

Also, OMG not only are there ARG-like elements to the book, there was an actual ARG to promote the book. (unfiction)

By: spitefulcrow

spitefulcrow — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:29:22 -0800

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.