Inanimate Alice

by Kate Pullinger

http://inanimatealice.com

100 pages, Digital

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Kate Pullinger is an award-winning writer of novels, short stories and digital works. Her most recent book is FOREST GREEN, out in Canada in August 2020. She is Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media at Bath Spa University.

Born in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Kate dropped out of McGill University after a year and a half of not studying philosophy and literature. She then spent a year working in a copper mine in the Yukon where she crushed rocks and saved money. She spent that money travelling and ended up in London, England, where she lives with her husband and two children.

Kate’s other books include The Mistress of Nothing, winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction 2009, Landing Gear, A Little Stranger and The Last Time I Saw Jane, as well as the ghost tale, Weird Sister, and the erotic feminist vampire novel Where Does Kissing End? These four titles have recently been re-released in new ebook editions.

Kate’s digital works include Inanimate Alice (www.inanimatealice.com), an episodic online multimedia novel and Flight Paths: A Networked Novel (www.flightpaths.net)

You can find out more about Kate and her work at www.katepullinger.com

Reviews

[Aysha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my first experience with a born-digital novel, and I was disappointed to see so little done to take advantage of what this medium can do for a good story. It was cool, I guess, but neither Alice's story nor her character drew me in. Technical difficulties and incompatibilities detracted from the experience. I hear they're trying to revamp all the old instalments of Inanimate Alice soon— I hope things improve and they're able to keep up with technology. I know a lot of teachers use it for their younger students. They seem to like it, but in a post-secondary setting, it didn't really speak to me or my classmates.

[eva ⚘ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was very interesting! it was my first experience with digital interactive storytelling!

(read for uni)

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inanimate Alice is the first piece of digital literature that I have read and I was suitably impressed. The text is simple, yet effective because it allows the reader to engage with the multimedia aspects on a range of interactive levels while reading and following the story line. Inanimate Alice was a good introduction to the features available in the digital text medium and there are a range of educational resources available from the website for educators to build activities for learners. Students will find this text engaging because it should load quickly and play well on portable devices. The vocabulary allows readers to elaborate on characters, landscapes and feelings conveyed in the story. The use of emotive character relationships between Alice and her parents allows young people to engage with the social and cultural aspects of the geographical location where the story is set. The author's use of Alice's more personal property as picture within picture visual images engages young people who are owners of mobile devices. Inanimate Alice was a good introduction to the digital narrative and it will be interesting to follow the development of the story through the social media links available for readers to collaborate on further chapters.