Literary Classics as Text Messages

[DavidB]

Pride & Prejudice

5Sistrs WntngHsbnds. NwMeninTwn-Bingly&Darcy. Fit&Loadd.BigSis Jane Fals 4B,2ndSisLiz H8s D Coz Hes Proud. Slimy Soljr Wikam Sys DHs Shady Past.Trns Out Hes Actuly ARlyNysGuy &RlyFancysLiz. She Decyds She Lyks Him.Evry1 Gts Maryd.

Romeo & Juliet

FeudTween 2hses- Montague&Capulet. RomeoMfalls_<3w/_JulietC@mary Secretly Bt R kils J's Coz &&is banishd. J fakes Death. As Part of Plan2b-w/R Bt_leter Bt It Nvr Reachs Him. Evry1confuzd-bothLuvrs kil Emselves


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...ts/4445088.stm

[LMC]

I saw this earlier and loved it!

How about writing some more:

HariPotter orphan liv w/awful rels go2 hogwarts wizard scul. Plays quidich. Badguy Voldemort try2 kil HP. Fails.

[TiggsTours]

I was really torn when I saw this this morning, firstly, I hate it! There is such a high level of illiteracy, and bad grammer & spelling and unprofessionalism in correspondence in this country now, and now we are promoting using bl**dy text talk amongst university students who are studying literature! If they don't want to read the books, they should stop wasting the tax payers time and money and go and get a job! But, on the other hand, it was amazing, and fascinating, to me that you could actually tell the whole of a great novel or play in a few lines of text talk!

[DavidB]

How about writing some more:

HariPotter orphan liv w/awful rels go2 hogwarts wizard scul. Plays quidich. Badguy Voldemort try2 kil HP. Fails.

And Harry Potter book 2
HariPotter orphan liv w/awful rels go2 hogwarts wizard scul. Plays quidich. Badguy Voldemort try2 kil HP. Fails

Book 3
HariPotter orphan liv w/awful rels go2 hogwarts wizard scul. Plays quidich. Badguy Voldemort try2 kil HP. Fails

Book 4
HariPotter orphan liv w/awful rels go2 hogwarts wizard scul. Plays quidich. Badguy Voldemort try2 kil HP. Fails

Book 5
HariPotter orphan liv w/awful rels go2 hogwarts wizard scul. Plays quidich. Badguy Voldemort try2 kil HP. Fails

[LMC]

I deliberately didn't specify *which* Harry Potter

Also topical:

Prigish mdl clss kidz find magic cntry-Narnia. Dft bad guyz. Hug liongod Aslan. Go home.

I agree with TT and Lynn Truss (or whatever her name is) - but txt Cambridge notes are rather fun!

LOTR:

Hobit hav bad ring,take 2mt 2destroy. Lots die but hobit sucsed,evry1 liv hapily evr after.

[Chef]

Is there anywhere where you can be taught this stuff?

I strongly suspect that a forumite called JAMMY writes using a dialect of this text style and I am sort of interested to find out what he is writing about. I initially thought that he was writing in teenager but someone else posted that he was now out of school.

Is there is someone out there that understands JAMMY and is willing to translate?

[LMC]

Hmm, not quite what you wanted Chef, but you can maybe make JAMMY speakers understand you by using this - Clicky... - and ask them to expand the l33t spk?

[Feelingpink]

If Samaritans can chat with despairing and possibly suicidal people via text, I would have thought that summarising a novel would have been a piece of cake in comparison.

[jivecat]

and bad grammer & spelling

Clever of you to provide evidence for your point of view!

I blame the teachers.

[David Bailey]

Clever of you to provide evidence for your point of view!

Phew - thank God someone else said it, I've been fighting the urge to do that all evening, 'coz I wouldn't want people to think I was pedantic or anything.

The original BBC article is here, and the responses are, well, pretty much what you'd expect really.

My take on this is that it's pointless summarizing the plots - they're not classics because of the plots, they're classics because of the way they're written. It's the bits between the plot points that create the art - like the pauses in dancing, or in music, that make it great.

Summaries, re-interpretations or re-works can work wonderfully - look at the King James Bible, for example. But text messaging IMO doesn't provide the correct communications mechanism for expressing these works.

Text messaging isn't "bad", it's simply a communications dialect; but in this case, it's not suitable for expressing literature. On the other hand, it's a very suitable advertising vehicle, for providing what are effectively teaser trailers - people might read it and think "Ooh, that sounds interesting, I'll read it".

[Lory]

Little Women

a yr in da life of da March famly.Pa away in Civil War, 4 sis.. Meg, Jo, Beth n Amy n da muvva, work ard 2 keep appy

[LMC]

Jane Eyre
Orfan Jane Eyre b governes, fal inluv w/emplyr marid 2 madbint. JE runaway, MB burn hous &di, JE cumbak, mary emplyr, liv hapily evr after.

DJ is right - it aint' what is writ, it's the way that it's written

[Lynn]

My take on this is that it's pointless summarizing the plots - they're not classics because of the plots, they're classics because of the way they're written. It's the bits between the plot points that create the art - like the pauses in dancing, or in music, that make it great.

Agree completely. I am an avid re-reader of books. I know the plot (with some like P&P I almost know all the dialogue as well!) but I can read them again and again because of how they are written, the play of characters, the subtle humour and wit in some scenes etc. Story telling is a lot more than 'this happens, then that happens, the end.'