The Sentient Search Engine

Okay, so maybe it’s not THAT extreme. I guess I did learn a few things from school. Still it’s occurred to me recently (okay back in October, get off me) that games have had a fairly big role in shaping who I am (my parents are probably in there somewhere too).

A Love of Reading and Exposure to New Things:

I enjoy reading. I like it a lot. I had great role models in my parents. Both of them read, Dad especially. They read to me and in front of me. Mom worked with me even before I started school. They knew the six early literacy skills instinctively before the researchers got around to telling everyone. For all this I can’t say I loved reading when I was little. I was better at it than most kids my age, but it was always just “there”. Once I got out of picture books I really didn’t gravitate toward chapter books. I did read from time to time, but I didn’t really pursue it.

I’ve always liked a good story though. Movies have always appealed to me, but what really appealed to me (once they came out) were games. I still remember playing Final Fantasy IV (then known stateside as Final Fantasy II) for the first time. I remember being intrigued by the story even though (as I later learned) I didn’t completely understand what was going on.

I learned vocabulary I would have never picked up in the normal course of things (ogre, leviathan, and “spoony” come immediately to mind). I was first exposed to figures from non-classical mythology and religion here like Odin (Norse), Shiva (Hindu), and Tiamat (Babylonian). I can still lose hours reading about this stuff to this day. Basically, I learned that I was just reading the wrong stories for me. Dad has read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy but I never thought I’d like it until my little adventure with Cecil. Did I learn to love pleasure reading from video games? No. Did it have a role in rebooting my interest? Certainly.

Problem Solving and the Power of Perseverance:

I learned an awful lot from Final Fantasy IV and games like it. High up there is the importance of perseverance. These games were hard for a 12-year-old. One boss, Rubicante, was IMPOSSIBLE to beat until you learn the right pattern. He has this way of letting you beat up on him and then unleashing this powerful, “one hit kill” attack on one of your characters that ruins your pattern (almost invariably you lost Rosa, your healer).

A kid has to learn to experiment and think (unless they’re cheating) to get past these gaming obstacles. Ultimately I succeeded with a little help and a lot of luck. In sticking with it I got to have the joy associated with successful completion. Needless to say this has been a useful trait/skill in life.

Creativity:

I never knew I was creative at all until I played Sim City for the first time. Sim City opened up aesthetic reserves in me that were not in evidence until I had opportunity to build my own city. Mind you I’m talking about the ORIGINAL Sim City, specifically the Super Nintendo port, so we’re not talking about all the bells and whistles associated with the later games in the series. This game let me create the “Lego cities” I wanted without investing the Danish GDP in little plastic bricks. I loved putting together neighborhoods and trying to imagine what they looked like. I tinkered incessantly and learned to work within a budget (more perseverance). There was a time when I wanted to be an architect or an urban planner (I would have probably ended up as one if not for the work involved. It seems if you make a mistake and the building falls down, they send you to jail, who knew?). Nevertheless, I did learn that my idea of how things can go together and should look had as much value as someone else. Thats a big deal for a shy nerdy kid!

Closing:

As you’ve surmised, the title was a grand exaggeration designed to draw you in and get you to read this stuff. Nonetheless, I feel I’ve made an important point. Games are a medium for storytelling and imparting information. They create experiences just like books and movies. Different experiences, to be sure, but experiences just the same. I think it’s about time we treat them as such.

Games should not be blamed for the erosion of culture and morality. Culture is changing not eroding and morality is just the same as it always has been, we just notice the failings (and supposed failings) of others more these days. Games should be understood and respected as an important part of the culture. The sooner we get grasp these truths and grow up the better.

Sermon over.

Last week, I got a question from a mother at my branch. She was looking for books of short stories for her older boys (approximately 5th grade?) and wanted to know where she might find some. I worked my Librarian voodoo and we found her several. She was delighted and left happy, yet I was left with a hollow feeling. On the one hand, I was very happy that I could find so much for her without having to resort to reserves and interlibrary loan. On the other hand, the fact that so much short fiction was available hurt a little. Why was so much available? What’s wrong with short stories?

If you think about it, short stories have so much to recommend them! For early or reluctant readers short stories are a great way to break them in slowly. For that matter they’re great for any kid in this short-attention-span universe in which we now live, as they include a beginning, middle, and end that can be finished in one sitting.

Adults could likewise get into the action. All the folks that say “I don’t have time to read” almost always really mean “I don’t have time to get involved in a book right now”. Well who said you did!! Read a short story!! The longest ones probably won’t likely take longer than an hour, and there’s a lot of short fiction that’s just as powerful as the latest New York Times bestseller!! In the fast and busy pace of modern life, I’d think people would be jumping at the chance to read something that will fit in a smaller unit of time.

So why exactly can’t the cause of short fiction gain any traction? I think there are three main reasons.

1. Value Judgments - I think some have a perception that reading short fiction isn’t real reading. I have nothing to say to this other than it’s just dumb. The very idea that a child that has read a 3,000 page Harry Potter book (okay so I exaggerate on occasion) has accomplished more than another that’s read a couple short story collections is preposterous.
2. Quality – Some people have the idea that short fiction is shallower because the short length limits how well the author can develop characters. Tell that to Edgar Allan Poe, O Henry, or Mark Twain and get back to me on their reaction to that will ya’? Short fiction can be just as developed and high quality as its longer cousin in the hands of a good writer, just as a bad author can make a miserable novel! Length has nothing to do with quality, get over it!!
3. Personal Taste – There are some folks who just prefer the longer forms. This is totally a matter of preference and the only reason for which I have any respect. I myself prefer longer works, by and large. I like investing in a book and getting cozy with the characters. Nevertheless, I do like to branch out on occasion. Short fiction is a great way to try new genres, styles, and authors. Sometimes after reading an especially epic tome I like to kick back with a short story collection to “clear the palate” as it were. Try it, it works!

Of course Novels have had better PR for quite some time. In so many literacy campaigns and reading clubs, there are frequent exhortations to “read a book”. That’s fine and all. I support that totally. Everyone should read more really. I guess it’s that “book” thing that concerns me. Couldn’t we say “read a story (of any length)” or (even better) just “read” like long running ALA campaign. I think it’s important to encourage people to read regardless of what appeals to them.

If you’ve never read short fiction, give it a shot!! If you have, give it another try! After all, why visit one world when you can visit twenty in the same amount of time?!