Stitch Bitch…by Bob Dylan?

So after reading Stitch Bitch I’m not entirely sure what I actually read.  But what I think I read was a quilt.  Much like the title of Shelley Jackson’s book, Patchwork Girl, this read like a quilt or hodgepodge of ideas thrown randomly together that didn’t worry about rhyme, reason, flow or pattern.

I understand what she was trying to do.  She believes hypertext is non-linear and decided to write her article as if it were hypertext where each section jumps around from point to point and thought to thought. It’s definitely hard to follow, especially when she throws in lines like “instead of just my finger or my p-p-p-pen,” and you have to stop and re-read the sentence.  Then a sentence later Jackson mentions William Burroughs, Charles Dickens and Gertrude Stein.  Just name-dropping out of nowhere, which keeps you on your toes while you’re reading.  I understand the “Memento” relation because if you space out for one sentence then you’re lost.

The writing in "Stitch Bitch" reminds me of some early Bob Dylan songs.

What it reminds me of more than anything else though, is a Bob Dylan song.  I’m talking early Dylan, “Freewheelin'” and “Bringing It All Back Home” Dylan.  Songs like A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Subterranean Homesick Blues and Desolation Row.  Some people may think it’s just a bunch of rambling and random words and names thrown together in rhythm.  Others think it makes more sense than anything they’ve ever heard before.  I don’t necessarily think Stitch Bitch is close to brilliant, but it is very well written and entertaining.  There are so many great metaphors, imagery and characters.  Jackson personifies hypertext with sentences like “Hypertext is schizophrenic.”  The quote from the article that allows me to connect it to Dylan’s writing is “hypertext gives us the chance to sneak up on reality from inside fiction.”  So many Dylan songs are like this, where he uses phrases and metaphors to relate to a deeper meaning or social commentary.

On a side note, I thought those first sentences at the beginning of each section were going to come together at the end somehow, but it never happened, so that was disappointing.