The Past in Two Forms
Feb. 9th, 2022 04:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThis week, I played When the Past Was Around, a point-and-click game which follows a young woman, working through her grief at the loss of her partner. The game tracks through various stages of their meeting, relationship and separation, with code-based puzzles that reveal different aspects of their time together. I solved nearly all the puzzles without reference to the internet, and the way it all fitted together was very satisfying. I definitely got invested in the character's combined pain and joy at remembering her love. But the way the scribble graphics around the frame of the scenes was in constant motion really gave me a headache, every time I played it. So, for once, I didn't want a game to last longer!
I also read Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance, a novel by Richard Powers, inspired by the famous photograph from 1914 of the same name. It's an interesting book, in terms of structure, interweaving three separate storylines - one of the farmers themselves, one of a technology writer in the 1980s who discovers a connection to the photograph, and one of an unnamed first-person narrative who researches its origins. The latter storyline involved an awful lot of non-fiction historical fact, which was rather dense. And a lot of the farmers' storyline was quite grim. I definitely felt most connected to and interested in Peter's 80s investigations, but overall found the book a bit difficult to get through.
I also read Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance, a novel by Richard Powers, inspired by the famous photograph from 1914 of the same name. It's an interesting book, in terms of structure, interweaving three separate storylines - one of the farmers themselves, one of a technology writer in the 1980s who discovers a connection to the photograph, and one of an unnamed first-person narrative who researches its origins. The latter storyline involved an awful lot of non-fiction historical fact, which was rather dense. And a lot of the farmers' storyline was quite grim. I definitely felt most connected to and interested in Peter's 80s investigations, but overall found the book a bit difficult to get through.
