Tell a Story Using Book Spines

[Anita Bensoussane]

In another thread we talked about Phil Shaw, who arranged some digital book spines to tell a story about coronavirus.

(Read the titles starting from the top left onwards..)

https://www.artsy.net/show/rebecca-hoss ... -obsession" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here’s the original work if anyone’s interested.

Of course it was clever to make a sentence out of book titles but it’s not nearly as challenging if you can pick from any book title ever created rather than what you have in one location...

I wouldn't know how to do a digital version and, after reading your comment, Fiona, I thought it might be fun to try to tell a story using books from my own shelves - so I did! In case my photo (see Facebook link below) isn't very clear, the story is as follows:

Camping by the shores of Silver Lake in a certain kingdom, Tom Sawyer, a nasty piece of work just like Fay, dumps a plain girl, Matilda, the toymaker's daughter. Good luck, true Tilda, going solo! It's not the end of the world. Return to Oz, city of stars. According to Jennings, one is fun!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I used the following 17 books:

'Camping' by R. Jeffries and P. Moynihan
'By the Shores of Silver Lake' by Laura Ingalls Wilder
'In a Certain Kingdom' translated by Thomas P. Whitney
'Tom Sawyer' by Mark Twain
'A Nasty Piece of Work' by Lance Salway
'Just Like Fay' by F. E. Bone
'Dumps: a Plain Girl' by L. T. Meade
'Matilda' by Roald Dahl
'The Toymaker's Daughter' by Ursula Moray Williams
'Good Luck' by L. T. Meade
'True Tilda' by Arthur Quiller-Couch
'Going Solo' by Roald Dahl
'It's Not the End of the World' by Judy Blume
'Return to Oz' by Joan D. Vinge (using L. Frank Baum's characters)
'City of Stars' by Mary Hoffman
'According to Jennings' by Anthony Buckeridge
'One is Fun!' by Delia Smith

If anyone else has a go at this, it would be fun to see the results!

[Lucky Star]

Very good Anita. I might have a go tomorrow if I can find anything suitable.

[Anita Bensoussane]

It would be great to see what people come up with!

[Fiona1986]

I've been doing a daily book display seeing as I'm not at work and I did consider this but I'm not sure I have many titles that lend themselves to sentences!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I've had a go at a second story using book titles, again sticking to books from my own collection:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Fiona1986]

I'm sure you've seen my attempt, Anita, but for anyone who I don't have on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lucky Star]

Very good Anita and Fiona. I failed completely to come up[ with anything coherent from my shelves.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I had already seen your story on Facebook, Fiona, but I love it and it's great to have it in the thread!

[Fiona1986]

It's really difficult to make a sentence. I had lots of ideas but lacked verbs or joining words. For example there are lots of books with a name in them like, "The Naughtiest Girl in the School", but very few books called "Went" or "Went to...", etc.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I had the same problems, Fiona. It's certainly a challenge!

[Fiona1986]

Your use of "pets" was a neat way to get around it!

[Lucky Star]

So here is my rather pathetic effort. As Fiona said the lack of "joiner words" makes it much more difficult than one might think. The sentence reads;

A Clergyman's daughter, trainspotting alone in Berlin when the noon was blue, spoils one hundred years of solitude in cold blood for the good of the cause.

Not exactly riveting reading I know.

I used the following books

A Clergyman's Daughter by George Orwell
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
When the Moon was Blue by Enid Blyton
Spoils by Brian Van Reet
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
For the Good of the Cause by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

https://ibb.co/ZzbgD0m" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Anita Bensoussane]

That's really good, John (Lucky Star) - it sounds very fluent!

[Fiona1986]

It sounds very dark and mysterious too!

[Lucky Star]

Gosh thanks. It is quite coherent I suppose; just makes little sense. I’d love to be let loose in a library or bookshop. I’m sure whole paragraphs could be formed from their stock.