i must say, i was surprised by the ending of moby dick. i was prepared for some of what happened, but not all the events. i did appreciate the symbolism, how melville weaved a tale that was entirely connected, even if it did take a hundred chapters to get there :)
anyway, i was trying to employ the concept of the long tail and searching for moby dick related articles and things, when i came across this kickstarter project.. i thought that it combined the best of digital culture and moby dick. essentially, it is a a card game that allows one to relive the adventures on the pequod via different sailors and events. the images on the cards are really beautiful. and this project was funded!
what does this mean? i think it shows that no matter what the item is, there is always a market for it. it is just a matter of finding your market. like the wired article we read last week, people are often given a minute selection of books or music or movies, when really, they would read, listen or watch hundreds of thousands more than what is offered like on amazon or netflix. kickstarter allows people to propose new ideas and if enough people support it, then it can be created. imagine how the world would be if we could do this with everything-politics, entertainment, education.
have you found any cool moby dick paraphernalia? if you could create something based on a book, which book would you choose? i would probably do something children-related with ella enchanted because i loved that book dearly growing up. how does branching out beyond the work help others to understand the novels or themes? i think people manufacture games or clothes because they truly love the novels they're reading and it is a physical manifestation of their love and presents the opportunity for discussion.
When I finished the Bartimaeus series as a kid, the first thing that I did was try to make my own card game based around the characters and events of the trilogy. As you said, things like that are a way of giving physicality to ideas that we like--a way of making abstract notions available to be further engaged with in a real-world context. I'm still waiting for a quality Moby Dick video game, but I'll be interested to see what kind of stuff I find as I follow the long tail like you've been doing. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteThis game looks really cool! It's not just a novelty "We slapped the Moby Dick name on something to sound smart" product. These people genuinely know about the book and playing this game would make you a little more cultured.
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