Piecemeal Considerations by Bryan Yee


The following is just some interesting things that occurred to me while reading Shelley Jackson's Patchwork Girl:

The question is, where to begin? Why not start by reading from the farthest link back inwards to the nodes that interconnect and give life. If Patchwork Girl is a patchwork of ideas and writings glued together by links one can easily read Patchwork Girl as not only a commentary on sensuality and prosthesis, but also as a commentary on the constructs of the hyperfiction novel.

My wandering through the silent space created each time I double-clicked the Patchwork Girl icon brought me to the graveyard where "she" is buried.

"I am buried here. You can resurrect me, but only piecemeal. If you want to see the whole, you will have to sew me together yourself."

It is ironic to find that in the graveyard of all places occurs a rebirth of sorts. The rebirth is neither limited by or to a particular time and space because each time she is resurrected there is no past only the present in which she operates. "She" lies in wait until invoked upon by my double-clicking. I bring her to life.

The act of "sewing" together the story not only joins together the narrative but also works on a more personal level, perhaps working to weave the reader into the tale and each time "resurrecting" a different "monster".