November 6, 2008
A Virtual Group Read of 'The Golden Notebook'
On November 10, a group of seven women will sit down and dive into The Golden Notebook, the 1962 Doris Lessing novel that still figures large in the feminist canon. Like book clubbers everywhere, the readers will jot down notes in the margins and riff about the book — except that this conversation, down to the marginal jottings, will take place online.
The readers, all creative writers and critics, will record their thoughts in an online version of the text and in a group blog. Others who want to contribute to the conversation will be able to post to a public forum.
The Golden Notebook project is the brain child of Bob Stein, co-director of if:book London, “a think-and-do tank” devoted to tapping the potential of new media for writers and readers. Mr. Stein is also director and founder of the Institute for the Future of the Book, an academic center run by the University of Southern California but based in Brooklyn.
“Fundamentally this is an experiment in how the Web might be used as a space for collaborative close-reading,” Mr. Stein wrote in a note to The Chronicle. “We don’t yet understand how to model a complex conversation in the Web’s two-dimensional environment, and we’re hoping this experiment will help us learn what’s necessary to make this sort of collaboration work as well as possible.” (Virtual wine and cheese, maybe?) —Jennifer Howard
Posted on Thursday November 6, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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I would love to join in the discussion. As I just now have become aware of the date I may not be ready yet to contribute.
— Dr. Esther Labovitz Nov 7, 04:40 PM #
This idea—making one’s margin comments on a book more public via technology—would seem to have a lot of value in education. I can see assigning a text to a group of students and having them discuss the book using a tool like the one used in this project. Very interesting.
— Derek Nov 7, 09:52 PM #