Hi everyone.
My apologies if this has been discussed before, or if as is more likely, I'm missing the plot but...

When Miss Haversham rescues Thursday from the Goliath R&D lab cell, why does she have to read from the laundry label? Couldn't she just say..."...long, dark, wood-panneled corridor lined with bookshelves..." and take thenm straight back to the Library?

Or am I being an arse?
Thank you.

Hmm... details are hazy (probably a good sign its time for a re-read). My initial reaction was that you need a book (or piece of suitable text) to be able to bookjump.... but I have a feeling that bookjumping without a book has been seen or mentioned elsewhere... Does Miss H mention (something like) she could jump out (bookless) on her own, but wouldn't be able to take Thursday with her - she needs the text to take a passenger.

I could, of course, be wrong.

Rob

Hi Zeke

I'm new to the forum today, but I have been a big fan from the beginning.

I kinda see bookjumping as a direction, so if you don't use a written text then because you are setting up a random scenario that is probably used in thousands of texts throughout the whole of the written language, you may be unable to decipher exactly where you are and then you couldn't navigate your way out.

But hey, its just a thought.

Hope it helps, sorry if it doesn't. Have a good day :)

hello and welcome Tuesday, have some cake, tea and call the cat whatever you want.

feel free to stick your head round the door of Nextian Chat where there are many people who will drive you insa-- I mean welcome you.

Rob

It was the fourteen feet of concrete lining the vault. She couldn't get through it without reading.

Well, a book (or any other piece of text) is actually an ImaginoTransference device that takes the story and places it in the reader's mind. So maybe the actual physical text is required to transfer your body to the story as well.

Or here's another theory (that also explains why better bookjumpers can do it with less text): Ever noticed that it's a lot easier to imagine the story when you're reading from text than when you're reciting from memory? I know if I were to recite a bit of a book from memory I would have to concentrate on the exact words and wouldn't have room to imagine the scene as well. Whereas when I read aloud from a book I can just let my eyes skim the page and spout out the words from my mouth while focusing my whole mind on imagining the scene.
Also, when I start to read, it takes me a line or two to start picturing it; at first I'm concentrating on the words.
So the written text serves as a concentration device so that you can focus more fully on what you are trying to imagine, and a better bookjumper can fully imagine it sooner in the text.

Plus, it's so much more suspenseful this way. And we get that fun scene in the washing machine instructions.

Nicky is right, I have just finished reading that book for the second time a few weeks back and I was under the impression that it was because the vault was so far underground and lined in steel and concrete that Ms. Havisham had to have text in order to read them both out of there at the same time.

Spyder Webb~~~*