When the Lines Grow Blurry...

Nell raises a fascinating issue by juxtaposing the various forms of trance-inducing entertainment. That is, a hypertext author can merge several experiences within one hypertextual fiction. One can feel that s/he is both watching a movie and listening to a story, or perhaps even dreaming. The potential is practically unlimited, in that the inherently interactive nature of the computer calls for stories which cannot simply be contained within one entertainment genre.

Currently, the more technologically simple projects such as Joyce's Afternoon already incorporate several of these genres, in that the reader must choose the path of the story's progression. In this manner, the reader is suddenly elevated to a position equal to that of the fictional characters of the hypertextual novel itself. But more on this in the Afternoon section...