When I first began reading Crank I thought I would be incredibly annoyed by the way the text was shaped on the page. However, once I got into the book I couldn't stop reading it, literally. I found that the text construction gave the book a flow that my mind couldn't break out of, so I just kept reading until I was nearly finished in one sitting. The shapes of the text give each page a different flow and show the reader that certain sentences, words, or phrases should be given more emphasis than another. I chose a few pages as examples of how I interpreted the text.
On page 69 each line is only one word, making a straight vertical line down the page. When I first read this I read it word by word, sounding like I couldn't put a sentence, or even a phrase, together. I think that this depicts Bree's (or you could say Kristina's) feeling while she's on the drug. I just pictured her mind running a hundred miles an hour, her thoughts completely changed from her normal state, and this is what could come out of her mouth. Especially at the end of the page the last four words "you crash real hard" are all double spaced and bold. I found this page a successful way to show the effects of the drug on her mind and body.
Another passage I was interested in was pages 88 and 89. There are five words that are indented to the right, while the rest of the text is indented to the left. I really liked this passage because you could read the five words indented to the right, "coaster car climb drop monster" as its own entity. Through these words you can still get the meaning of the passage, that the drugs make Bree rise then fall and crash like a roller coaster, without reading the whole description. Another example of this that I liked was on pages 326 and 327.
The last passage I want to mention is from pages 405 to 407. This is a perfect example of using the movement of the text to describe the meaning on the page. Pages 405 to 406 demonstrate the rhythm her life used to have before she did drugs, with the words on the page having a pattern of five descending words in a line. Then, on page 407 when she discusses getting high all the words are scattered around the page, showing that she has lost rhythm of her old life before the drugs.
I really enjoyed the different textual patterns throughout the book because the text's meaning could change depending on how you decided to read the words, which changed from page to page.
What were some of your favorite pages?
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I find it interesting that you were at first annoyed by the structure of the pages, because I enjoyed it right away (aside from being happy with seeing all that white space and knowing it meant the book would be a quick read). There were a few pages that were more difficult to read because of the way the text was set up, though, and from that I can understand your first inclination.
ReplyDeleteI tended to for the reason the text was displayed a certain way on each page and I enjoyed discovering that some of the pages' sentiments could be summed up with staccato thoughts by reading only the left or right column of words. One example of this is page 83, where Kristina is talking about choices. The right column reads "choices. make Kristina crazy Bree laughs". I really like this page, because it shows how Bree has a stronger and happier personality that is tempting to Kristina because she is tired of dealing with the choices in her life.
The diagonal treatment of the text on pages 42 and 43 seems to me the beginning of a downhill slope, if you catch my drift. This passage is when Kristina, at her father's house, goes outside and spies on her "silver knight". Since this is her first real introduction to Adam, who introduces her to the monster, I see this as the beginning of her slide into the world of the monster and the text sort of suggests that, as it slides toward the bottom of the page.
Yup. (What you guys said.)
ReplyDeleteI was also noticing that certain patterns repeat every so often. The most obvious one is the split down the page, one side in italics, used for dialogue or... a more accurate description would be other characters speaking, because now that I think about it, we're in the narrator's head, but we don't read her voice very often. Pages 122, 118, 86... dozens more actually.
Emily, there's a great example of the device you mentioned in your second paragraph on pages 46-47, in which the right hand column reads (sans punctuation): "Should I kiss a boy, a complete stranger? I mean, if he asked."
Another cool one is anytime she shapes the text in direct reference to what is happening on the page. 207 is a cross and the page reads like a prayer. In fact, the two sentences literally intersect, with the word 'Lord' at the center. 191 is about a house, and the poem is shaped as such. 180 is about her tattoo, and each stanza is heart shaped.
I found myself reading the story aloud to my girlfriend. I don't usually get to really read out loud, and I found that I really enjoyed making the choices it took to read the prose out loud. Where to pause, how to change my voice, how to establish who was saying what... it was very different from reading a novel out loud. Two of my favorites were pages 34 and 35, in which Bree describes her Dad's place and we "hear" the sounds of the place, uninviting us. I think the form of the book really has a way of setting the tone, and I found myself enjoying getting to play off of that in my reading.
ReplyDeleteChris, I really liked page 207 as well, that was another one that stuck in my mind. The shape of the passages was something that I had to share on some of the pages, because the meaning got lost when I was reading out loud, although I didn't get to page 207 out loud.
I also found the structure interesting. I too was a bit concerned at first, I thought I was going to have to constantly go back and re-read things. However, once I finished the novel I realized that the structure gave it more character. To me, because the structure was so erratic at times, it went along with the lifestyle that the main character was living.
ReplyDeleteI liked the structure as well. I had a good time picking out the second meanings in the text. The visuals, like the cross, hearts, the V (for virginity) and house. I liked page 496, with the voices. They were all talking separately yet at once. It really illustrated her confusion. Page 527 is an hourglass and lets Kristina slip through the next seven months in one page.
ReplyDeleteThe structure and poetry fit this piece of work very well. I agree with Caitlin that it went with her lifestyle, as well as what she was trying to say.
Before I picked up the book, I had been told by others who had previously read Crank that the poetic format of the book was extremely difficult to get through. I could not have been more surprised by my own experience. I agree with everything that has been discussed above about how well the poetic verses flowed. Not only did they make the readings easier, but also more powerful. In the beginning, I was simply flying through the readings not bothering to understand the set up of the page. However, once I started to really get into it, I found myself deconstructing the layouts and really getting a powerful feel from the words.
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