Ceiling

(enchant: ?page, (background: black))[On] (click: "On")[(enchant:?page, (background: white))(replace:"On")[On coming to the first sight is of white. Some time after coming to the first sight is of dull white. For some time after coming to the eyes continue to. When in the end they open they are met by this dull white. Consciousness eyes to of having come to. When in the end they open they are met by this dull white. Dim consciousness eyes unbidden to of having come partly to. When in the end unbidden they open they are met by this dull white. Further one cannot. [[On.->two]]]] (enchant: ?passage, (text-color: #606060)) (enchant: ?Link, (text-color: #606060)) (enchant:?Link, (text-style:"fade-in-out"))

[No knowledge of where gone from. Nor of how. Nor of whom. None of whence come to. Partly to. Nor of how. Nor of whom. None of anything. Save dimly of having come to. Partly to. With dread of being again. Partly again. Somewhere again. Somehow again. Someone again. Dim dread born first of consciousness alone. Confirmed when in the end the eyes unbidden open. To this dull white. By this dull white. Further one cannot.] [[On.->three]] (enchant: ?Page, (background: #F5F5F5))(enchant: ?passage, (text-color: #606060))(enchant: ?Link, (text-color: #606060))(enchant:?Link, (text-style:"fade-in-out"))

[Dim consciousness first alone. Of mind alone. Alone come to. Partly to. Then worse come of body too. At the sight of this dull white of body too. Too come to. Partly to. When in the end the eyes unbidden open. To this dull white. Further one-] [[On.->four]] (enchant: ?Page, (background: #E8E8E8)) (enchant: ?passage, (text-color: #606060)) (enchant: ?Link, (text-color: #606060)) (enchant:?Link, (text-style:"fade-in-out"))

[Something of one come to. Somewhere to. Somehow to. First mind alone. Something of mind alone. Then worse come body too. Something of body too. When in the end the eyes unbidden open. To this dull white. Further-] [[On.->five]] (enchant: ?Page, (background: #DCDCDC)) (enchant: ?passage, (text-color: #606060)) (enchant: ?Link, (text-color: #606060)) (enchant:?Link, (text-style:"fade-in-out"))

Dull with breath. Endless breath. Endless ending breath. Dread darling sight. ==> (css: "font-size:75%")[[[thoughts]]] (enchant: ?Page, (background: #D3D3D3)) (enchant: ?passage, (text-color: #606060)) (enchant: ?Link, (text-color: #606060) + (text-style: 'italic'))

(css: "font-size: 125%")[Ceiling] (css: "font-size:75%")[ written by Samuel Beckett for Avigdor September 1981 transcoded with twine by Ken Alba] (enchant: ?passage, (text-color: #D3D3D3)) (enchant: ?Link, (text-color: #D3D3D3)) (enchant:?Link, (text-style: "fade-in-out")) (live: 6s)[(go-to: "one")]

(css: "font-size:75%")[A straightforward version of the original text is available <a href="http://especiallygreatliterature.com/ceiling.html" style = "color:grey">here.</a> Adapting any work necessarily results in gains and losses; the primary gain here depends on my reading of the original piece. I see two voices (although the two voices may be parts of the same whole) - the goad and the awakened. The goad, like its counterparts in Acts Without Words I and II, pushes to the awakened to action. By forcing the user to click "On," this adaptation of the text makes the reader into the goad. I'm reminded, when I read this piece, of an iron lung; a patient on a bed, made to breathe despite itself by some mechanical apparatus. The fog of the breath, like a mirror held to someone's mouth to check for life, makes the white dull. One mark of a successful translation is that it does not foreclose a plurality of potential readings by imposing its own. By that measure, this is a failure. I claim no copyright over any of this; it is for educational uses only. If you like it, you might want to look at <a href="http://especiallygreatliterature.com/endlessgame.html" style = "color:grey">something similar.</a> Thank you for checking out my thing; feel free to send me an email at kenalba@bu.edu if you want to talk about it. -Ken]