Digital Novels need to be more than words upon a digital face and the press of a button.

“The form is the function” said Pry (2014) creator Samantha Gorman. Pry is described as a “book to watch and a film to touch.” The simple idea of a digital novel and pushing a button is simply not enough. There needed to be more interaction and more simulation, which is what Danny Cannizzaro and Samantha Gorman did. Pry allows for the reader to construct what the narrative represents through pinching, dragging and prying. Pry follows the story of James, a construction worker who fought in the first Gulf War six years prior. James is slowly going blind and so the story of pry is narrated in an unreliable and sometimes confusing way. The consistent flashbacks as well as the struggle of which finger-motion is required really creates a disjointed storyline for the reader to follow. But the idea behind Pry came from digital literature and novels purely being words and systematically pressing a button through the narrative. In Pry, you fade between James’ conscious and subconscious worlds, also while experiencing what he is experiencing. Some of the chapters require pinching, some dragging, with one in braille, reflecting James’ current situation of slowly going blind but still needing to work and live his life.

Creating a digital novella that allows the reader to be completely immersed in the ‘life’ of the character has opened an entire new venture for developers. Pry has created a form never seen before in the digital novel world and so far, has created an incredible impact. The novel plays heavily on emotions of not only the reader but the character as well, heart-breaking flashbacks of a lost lover and friend, as well as the lack of sight continuously causing trauma for James and reminding him of the Gulf War. As the reader, you are given instruction in the early chapters on how to venture through this novella, but left to your own devices and frustrations as there seem to be no solutions or timeframes. The “well established tradition” (Jhave, 2014) of RSVP (rapid serial visual presentation) is consistently used through-out Pry, with flashing and blinking and blurring a constant mode of reading. The idea is the flashing and blinking used with RSVP creates a hypnotic effect on the reader, which is the case with Pry. Although you are terribly frustrated about the lack of guidance in the novel, you continue to stumble forward in the hope it will begin to make sense.

Pry has set the standard of future digital novels and has created an entire new and exciting world for all types of readers. Whether you prefer a basic paperback novel or do in fact enjoy the idea of reading on a digital face, Pry will allow you to experience and cultivate a story within a story and feel the same frustrations and confusions that James does as he recovers from the trauma’s he has experienced from the war and as he tries to deal with his eyesight slipping away from him.