Emoticon Booker Prize

Sure it’d be a challenge but you could write a whole novel in emoticons.

A benefit would be to drag certain teens into reading literature.

It could also be read by everyone without translation, quite independently of their native tongue.

The other unexpected benefit would be for the literary academics; they would have an endless field day analysing and arguing about the book’s meaning.

There have been books translated in a very shorthand fashion into emoticons but that’s different to writing a new novel completely from scratch. This is more of a display of concise cleverness, the sort enjoyed by the cryptic crossword types. See for example the translation of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables below and you will see what I mean.

Xu Bing has written a graphic novel, Book from the Ground, composed entirely of symbols and icons that are universally understood. But these aren’t emoticons unfortunately. But you know he’s onto something when he gets reviews like this:

“While this book might turn off readers looking to escape into a more conventional narrative, anyone interested in experimental fiction, modern art, or a little bit of challenge will be delighted.” — Library Journal

The challenge in writing a whole novel with emoticons is to make enough meaningful sentences that can be strung together to construct the narrative. I have added an example of one sentence in the second image below. A whole book of these would take quite some time to put together; maybe what it needs is a massive online collaborative arts challenge (MOCAC – a new acronym for the day).