Novel form of writing read by fingers
(eastday.com)
Updated: 2004-09-13 10:57

One of the most talked about novels in China at the moment isn't available in bookstores and is delivered to readers one chapter at a time, twice a day for a month.

"Out of the Fortress," a text-message novel, was officially launched on Friday, and Shanghai Unicom officials say it has been warmly received, especially by young people.

The company wouldn't say, however, how many people have signed up to read the book on their cell phone screens.

Author Qian Fuzhang says the story was specifically written for mobile phone users.

The 4,200-character novel is divided into 60 chapters, each containing 70 characters including spaces and punctuation marks, the maximum size allowed in one short message.

"It is about two people who have a passionate affair, which is not supported by morality or law, but it is very understandable," Qian said of his novel.

Subscribers to the novel receive two chapters a day, so they can finish reading the whole book in one month. Readers pay 0.3 yuan (3.6 US cents) for each message or 18 yuan for the whole novel.

"Many people have subscribed to this new service, especially people under the age of 30," said Deng Yunlan, Shanghai Unicom's public relations official.

Readers are split on the novel form of literature.

"It is cool. I receive two messages a day and that will keep me excited for the whole month," said Huang Rong, a 26-year-old woman. "In addition, the story is attractive and I like reading love affair novels."

A 50-year-old middle school teacher surnamed Zhu said he isn't impressed with the idea.

"I can't read on the handset screen," Zhu said.

This isn't the first time Qian has turned to new technologies to publish his work. His last novel, "Red Horse," was published in installments on a Website.

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