post: strange pictures

Author: robinrendle

notes/strange-pictures.md

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+---
+layout: layouts/note.njk
+title: Strange Pictures
+date: 2026-02-01T08:12:34-08:00
+city: San Francisco
+country: California
+extract: A novel is a game to be designed.
+---
+
+Uketsu’s _Strange Pictures_ is real good. It’s one of those rare books that make you realize that a novel is a game, not just a bunch of text printed on a page. And the way that Uketsu reimagines their novel is with drawings and diagrams, making what might be a simple murder mystery thriller feel like you’re a detective rummaging through documents and timetables.
+
+It reminds me of all the other novels that feel more like games. Like _S_ by Doug Dorst and J.J. Abrams where the story is told in the margins of a very stuffy book. Or _How to Be Both_ by Ali Smith where each book is split in two but each copy is printed in either order, so there’s no “true” order of reading (except mine). Or _Hopscotch_ by Julio Cortázar where the novel—even though it didn’t work for me—can be read in multiple competing orders depending on your choice.
+
+How much weird fun is left to be had with the format of a novel! The format of a book can be reimagined for new kinds of stories, and new kinds of games, over and over again. 
+
+Isn’t that exciting?