Books and Dragons and Japanese tourists

Books and Dragons and Japanese tourists  (E) A quick stream of conciousness about why I love books #1246124 by Audubon

I suppose I realised I loved the written word when I'd read the children's edition of 'The Three Musketeers' for the 50th time and asked my parents why I'd read the damn thing so much. Their great reply was 'you must be fascinated by it' and fascinated I was. Not just with Dumas, but with Carroll, Verne, even those silly create you own adventure books. Each one had you start at Chapter 1, then make a descision and each descion would send you off on a completely different route. Go to chapter 5 if you want to... if you open the box go to chapter...

At £3 a pop they didn't come cheap to a 12 year old, but each one had a hundred stories. Some ended well with you defeating the evil wizard, but some had you die on your quest. That's what I liked. They had a sense of unreal realism. Not all choices you made were right, sometimes you die if you make the wrong one, but their always hope that if you go back, retrace your steps from your untimely grave you could come out victorious.

It was cheating and I knew it. But I loved the way you could read them over and over again, each time with a completely different outcome. Sometimes you were the good guy who made all the nice choices. Sometimes you could be a bad guy and still win out, taking all the glory and power for yourself.

These days computer games have replaced that multi choice aspect of fiction. But with everything up there on the screen, there's nothing left to imagine anymore. It's terribly depressing, to a sensitive soul like me, when the dragon you've been fighting your way towards for 2 solid days turns out to look nothing like you imagined.

I think I prefer my old books. Even Teniel's illustrations only gave you a glimpse into wonderland, not a guided tour letting you take the photographs. Along with the ubiquitous Japanese tourists I imagine looking over my shoulder every time I swing my sword in a game.

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