The Raw Shark Texts
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okay, what the heck...
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no idea, i loathed the bookbut i did find this on wikipedia which may help if you have the time and inclination
The Raw Shark Texts consists of 36 core chapters bound into the novel itself, and an additional 36 "lost" sections, known as "negatives" or "un-chapters" which exist outside of the main printed text.[2] These extra 'un-chapters' (also written by Steven Hall) have been found periodically since the book's initial release, hidden either online or in the real world. Unique negative content has also been discovered in several translated editions of the Raw Shark Texts since publication of the original English language edition in 2007.
For each chapter in The Raw Shark Texts there is, or will be, an un-chapter, a negative. If you look carefully at the novel you might be able to figure out why these un-chapters are called negatives.
Not all the negatives are as long as a full novel chapter - some are only a page, some are only a couple of lines. Some are much longer than any chapters in the novel. About a quarter of them are out there so far. (It’s an ongoing project set to run for a while yet) Not all of the negatives are online, some are, but they're hiding. Some are out there in the real world, waiting to be found. Anyone with the Raw Shark UK special edition will already have Negative 6/36 and anyone with a Canadian edition will have Negative 36/36 (and also a good idea of what some of the other negatives are).
The negatives are not deleted scenes, they are very much a part of the novel but they are all splintered from it in some way.
Several sections of the Raw Shark Texts Forum are devoted to the ongoing process of discovering and documenting the negatives.[3][4] Many negatives are still unaccounted for.
missing or hidden un-chapters? Is this a plot to cause readers to start drinking?
I didn't know why they died at the end- I couldn't figure out why he didn't recognize her in the middle, but the idea of the book, and some of the concepts were pretty terrifying,and memorable. For me, remembering a book is a key in whether it was well written. Some very memorable books were painful or hard to get through- Raw Shark was a bit of that, but I still thought it was excellent. If I was younger and more energetic and had fewer books on on TBR shelf, I would probably have started again at the begining and tried to figure it out.
I have to admit I am one of those people pissed off because the ending is a blatant rip-off from Jaws. To me it's just plagiarism, copied 1:1 from a great movie (probably from a great novel as well, have not read Benchley's Jaws yet) and not even a mention about this in the book's ending credits. And yes, I think Steve Hall was simply running out of time and finished off his book after having seen the movie.
I love this book and have read it several times. I will read it again. Each time I have read it. I have found something different in it and drawn a slightly different conclusion. If you really need closure, though, the plot synopsis in Wikipedia ought to do it. Personally, I am trying to forget it, but I will share my own conclusion (backed up by the wiki) that Eric and Scout are able (through death) to enter the conceptual realm, from where Eric sends his postcard. The whole book, of course, is about the power of concepts to transcend reality and death.
Incidentally, I am writing this now, because I only just found out about the un-chapters and am tracking them down. This book just keeps on giving!
I was just thinking about this book last night (as I was reading through notes on 'Alice in Wonderland', where the emblematic writing is shaped like a mouse's tail.) I can't think of a better example of an entire novel that uses emblematic writing than The Raw Shark Texts. The book definitely had some things that could have been strengthened, but I thought overall the book was great for what it tried to do.
Tony wrote: "I have to admit I am one of those people pissed off because the ending is a blatant rip-off from Jaws. To me it's just plagiarism, copied 1:1 from a great movie (probably from a great novel as well..."He copied the ending from the jaws movie on purpose in order to force the reader's mind to paint the same picture. Recall the part where he talks about sitting in a boat on the lake in the first chapter or so. That's one of the themes of the novel.
Un-Chapters? What?? someone help me! I absolutely loved this book, and I need to read these lost chapters! how do I find them?
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I adored the writing and the cool ideas and the wonderful voice. I was okay with not really knowing what was going on, but I've got to have some resolution! I was okay with he and Scout/Clio dying together at the end- that seemed appropriate- but why then the postcard to Randall? Did something else happen and I missed it?