(may not be braille edition)
Posted in: Digital Humanities, Electronic Literature
x-ray reflexion
Posted on April 18, 2013
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Some Science 
timothymerritt
April 18, 2013
Any idea what the Braille says?? I’ve become hopelessly engrossed in the mysteries and hidden messages in the book (and it’s readers…).
LanSolo
April 18, 2013
Why yes… I wrote it at http://www.brailletranslation.org … It says the caption for the photo art i made above:
“Where to start; when to stop; what did I miss; why was I here?”
#000080 #HouseofLeaves
timothymerritt
April 18, 2013
Nice. 🙂 I will definitely be checking out the Braille translator…
caitlinjeffery
April 19, 2013
Very nice. Thanks for linking the translator.
LanSolo
April 19, 2013
Thanks, Caitlin! I had to post the braille as an image, but I wanted to post the code instead to be more cryptic. However, it may have proven impossible to crack, which would have been no fun at all.!
vonepho
April 21, 2013
Very cool, Lans! It absolutely aligns with HoL’s cryptic and obscure nature.
LanSolo
April 25, 2013
Thank you, Vone! I was thinking about how hard it was just to get beyond the title page because there’s always more to what’s on the page than we can grasp!
Megan Harrison
April 23, 2013
The only way this could be cooler is if you had a picture of these Braille letters imprinted on a piece of paper. Great job!
LanSolo
April 25, 2013
Thanks, Megan! I think that would be really cool! I wonder if braille is the same for English speakers as it is for other language speakers?
Sean Michael Morris (@slamteacher)
April 25, 2013
The x-ray image has the effect of making the page permeable, which seems a very good metaphor for Danielewski’s work with HoL. The book obfuscates the act of reading, making it transparent — as confusing as it is obvious. Your image here works to exemplify that approach. The Braille, too, calls attention to the ways in which the act of reading through HoL reaches out to us, makes fiction a tactile sensation; while the fact that it remains untranslated (except in the comments) reminds us of the codedness of the book, the exact impermeability of the story.
Plus, the image is just mesmerizing.
LanSolo
April 25, 2013
Thank you! I was trying to be symbolic of the invitation to read that the text extends while simultaneously keeping the reader at arms’ length from the story. I’m glad you appreciated that! True to its duplicitous nature, this text is one of my favorite pleasure reads, but it has been very difficult to study. Getting lost in the book and touching every intimate crevice of the text feels like indulging in a mistress when I’m supposed to be loyal to my assignments! I am “read”ing it ve.r y s l o w l y.
theblume
April 28, 2013
Agreed! Awesome that you included the brail element, I never thought about a brail translator. Great job!