Bookfighting
Oct 16, 2013 17:01:53 GMT
Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2013 17:01:53 GMT
In a society where there is too much of everything and people are looking for increasingly trivial ways to spend their time, it was only inevitable that now that chess boxing is a well established sport, bookfighting would be invented. From what I have been able to determine, it only exists in France at the moment, so it is probably wildly dangerous for me to mention it on such a prestigious English language site as Anyport. The inventor, Yves Duranthon, has written a manual on the subject -- The Bookfighting Book -- in which the rules of combat and the philosophy of the sport are laid down.
The sacrilege of mistreating a cultural object bearing ideas and knowledge is discussed in the book. As a situationist, the author says that it is a matter of putting thought literally into movement. He claims that books elicit emotions but do not give actual physical life experience. "Bookfightling allows you to really feel the book."
The books are not meant to be destroyed and therefore only paperback books of no more than 300 pages are allowed. Certain books are not permitted, such as the Bible or the Koran. Paperback books are more resistant, softer, lighter and much easier to throw.
Anyway, "books have been fighting for centuries."
The combattants wear full helmets and chest protection and can only throw one book at a time. Before the battle begins, the adversaries choose their books from a pile, the same way that tennis players choose their balls.
One important rule is that at any moment, one of the fighters can open a book and start reading from it. This suspends the combat for as long as he keeps reading, and it can go on for a long time. There are judges to calculate who has won according to various criteria, but I am not sure what they are.
In any case, not many books are damaged. In a recent combat, 3 books were "deconstructed." When this happens, the loose pages are distributed to the spectators immediately for their future edification.
Any takers?
The sacrilege of mistreating a cultural object bearing ideas and knowledge is discussed in the book. As a situationist, the author says that it is a matter of putting thought literally into movement. He claims that books elicit emotions but do not give actual physical life experience. "Bookfightling allows you to really feel the book."
The books are not meant to be destroyed and therefore only paperback books of no more than 300 pages are allowed. Certain books are not permitted, such as the Bible or the Koran. Paperback books are more resistant, softer, lighter and much easier to throw.
Anyway, "books have been fighting for centuries."
The combattants wear full helmets and chest protection and can only throw one book at a time. Before the battle begins, the adversaries choose their books from a pile, the same way that tennis players choose their balls.
One important rule is that at any moment, one of the fighters can open a book and start reading from it. This suspends the combat for as long as he keeps reading, and it can go on for a long time. There are judges to calculate who has won according to various criteria, but I am not sure what they are.
In any case, not many books are damaged. In a recent combat, 3 books were "deconstructed." When this happens, the loose pages are distributed to the spectators immediately for their future edification.
Any takers?