Jane Smiley has a pretty interesting idea:
…I started thinking about a certain thing that is characteristic of the novel as a form, and that is that it is usually geographical in conception. It takes place in a specific spot. It portrays that spot. Quite often, the characters go on journeys from particular spots to other particular spots, and the reader’s interest is partly piqued by the specificity of that journey—how the character moves about, what he sees, what he finds at his destination, what he is leaving behind. I imagined a Google map of the world of the novel, and I wondered how grand and particular it would be, especially if it was simply a map of all novels rather than a map of great novels, or well-known novels, etc. So immediately I was in wiki territory, and this is what I propose, that we join in making a map of the world of the novel.
If it ever has an easy-to-absorb visual component, it will really be something. To find out more, and to contribute, go here.
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