Distant Reading

My Predictions of “In The Fog”

This is a book that I have never heard of, nor have I heard of the author (Richard Harding Davis), so my predictions will be based only on the actual title.

Just by the title alone I’m guessing the book will be about something that occurs during a foggy day. I am guessing day, because one typically isn’t out and about at night in foggy weather, at least not in 1901. Since the weather is foggy, I’m predicting that the story will be set near the ocean, where fog is more prevalent. Since I believe the story will be set near the ocean, I’m also predicting that a ship might be involved in an accident or something, and that the main character will help “save the day”.

Based on the fact that house, room and man are the top three words that show up throughout the first chapter, I'm thinking that my prediction of there being a ship involved is incorrect.

The "TermsBerry" icon allowed me to get a more concise look at the most used words, during the first chapter. The other word that I noted while looking at this bubble was...murder. It's interesting to me to see just how much I can gather about the story from looking at the most prevalent words used throughout it. I can tell that the story is set in London, England, in a room (probably the hall) inside of a man's house. It's nighttime, the lights are on and it's foggy. A murder has taken place...I'm thinking it's a woman, and that she was murdered for her diamonds.

I enjoyed using the "Link" icon, as it allowed me to see how the characters, setting and information was connected, something you don't get from reading a regular novel.

The "Topics" icon allows me to surmise even more of the story and to see that, I was, in fact, correct about some of my findings from the "TermsBerry". I can now say for certain that a woman was murdered, and that there was a witness who heard and saw something. It is also known that the story involves a Russian Princess, police and someone in a powerful position, as the words "Sir" and "Lord" would suggest.

The phrases, "at my feet was the body of a beautiful woman" and "I would tumble his unconscious form into a hansom cab", suggests that more than one crime has been committed. I'm beginning to think that this story has much more interesting twists and turns than I originally thought.

I liked the fact that I was able to sum up the story just by not reading it. It took me by surprise how much information I could glean from these specific icons, and allow me the comprehension of just how deeply involved the characters are with one another. From the phrases and words that I read, the characters seem to know one another well. I wonder who might know the "beautiful woman". "Not reading" or "distant reading, as it's also referred as, is not nearly the same as "close reading", but it does offer a more in-depth reading analysis.

When I have a book in hand that I'm reading, I don't know what's going to happen, or when it will take place. I have no idea who all the main characters are, until I read at least a quarter of the story. I'm not aware of the words that occur the most throughout the story, thus allowing me the opportunity to guess the plot, and know what I can expect. As I read my book, I have to wait for endless pages to pass before understanding what the book will even be about, but with "distant reading" I already know the majority of what I can expect to find. The fact that I can know almost the entirety of a books contents just by seeing commonly used words and phrases, is astounding. Having this knowledge in my tool belt will help me to learn more about books I might want to read, and to bring ones to light that I might only want to research.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7884