I watch a lot of DVDs. In fact, out of the amount of TV I watch, I'd say only 10% is actual television programming. The rest is movies, TV shows, etc. on DVD (and to a much lesser extent VHS tapes, but I digress). One thing I particularly enjoy is the commentary where you get to (usually) hear fun facts, inside info, behind the scenes stuff, and other crazy crap from the cast and crew of the movie/show. I'm a total information junkie, I adore trivia and useless facts. As such, a good commentary can be really entertaining to me. If a movie/show is really good I'll immediately rewatch it with the audio commentary on. (Probably one of the best audio commentaries out there is on the Ghostbusters DVD, and the MST3K way they deliver is an especially nice touch). Be warned, however, just as there are suckfest movies out there, there are indeed sucky commentaries. Those involved may talk about everything EXCEPT the show, or even worse remain silent through most of it. There's nothing worse than boring commentary, and there's nothing more boring than listening to a bunch of inside jokes that are so inside you don't care or forgetting that you're even watching the commentary because they speak two lines every forty-five minutes. Anywho, the point I'm eventually trying to make is that I enjoy good DVD commentary and I thought that it would cool to somehow incorporate it with a book.
Now let me stress that I THINK it would be cool, it may be or it may fail miserably, either way it should be interesting none the less. Also, I'm not sure if any other authors out there have tried this or if I'm a pioneer blazing a trail in the name of literature. I kinda perfer to think of myself as a pioneer if only because it would give me an opportunity to wear that coonskin cap I got from the Alamo.
If I'm not and it has been done before, keep all this in mind before you yell out "You SOB! You stole that bit from ________!"
Okay, here's how this is all going to work. I'm going to read the book(s) and write my thoughts down as they come. Sounds simple, ne? I've broken it all down by parts (including prologues and epilouges). Each part is divided by the chapters, so in theory it should be easy to follow along to. The page format will be printer friendly with a simple white background and no pictures or add ons, if you so desire to have a printed copy to read offline. I'll try not to get too wordy or go off on odd tangents, but no promises in that respect. I'm not putting spoiler warnings since the idea is that you read the book and then the commentary, or both together, or whatever. This is of course an experiment for all those involved, and going by past experiments of mine, the results may be mixed to say the least. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, email me. Okay, ready to give it a shot? The links are listed over on the left side of the page.
Let's play, shall we? |
