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Novel form of writing read by fingers
(eastday.com)
Updated: 2004-09-13 10:57
One of the most talked about novels in China at the moment isn't available in
bookstores and is delivered to readers one chapter at a time, twice a day for a
month.
"Out of the Fortress," a text-message novel, was officially launched on
Friday, and Shanghai Unicom officials say it has been warmly received,
especially by young people.
The company wouldn't say, however, how many people have signed up to read the
book on their cell phone screens.
Author Qian Fuzhang says the story was specifically written for mobile phone
users.
The 4,200-character novel is divided into 60 chapters, each containing 70
characters including spaces and punctuation marks, the maximum size allowed in
one short message.
"It is about two people who have a passionate affair, which is not supported
by morality or law, but it is very understandable," Qian said of his novel.
Subscribers to the novel receive two chapters a day, so they can finish
reading the whole book in one month. Readers pay 0.3 yuan (3.6 US cents) for
each message or 18 yuan for the whole novel.
"Many people have subscribed to this new service, especially people under the
age of 30," said Deng Yunlan, Shanghai Unicom's public relations official.
Readers are split on the novel form of literature.
"It is cool. I receive two messages a day and that will keep me excited for
the whole month," said Huang Rong, a 26-year-old woman. "In addition, the story
is attractive and I like reading love affair novels."
A 50-year-old middle school teacher surnamed Zhu said he isn't impressed with
the idea.
"I can't read on the handset screen," Zhu said.
This isn't the first time Qian has turned to new technologies to publish his
work. His last novel, "Red Horse," was published in installments on a Website.
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