Fiction Narratives: The Forgotten Strand?
There are, I would argue, two kinds of bad narratives: 1) Thin or predictable, and 2) illogical. Both are bad for very obvious reasons. Thin or predictable narratives fail primarily because there’s nothing within the plot itself to keep an attentive reader or viewer going. The only reason such narratives succeed is because they are coupled with something externally appealing (think Avatar’s superior visuals) or because the kinds of people who engage with such stories aren’t looking for anything else. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with the latter of these two reasons; anyone who has worked an insanely busy schedule can understand the need to read something without having to make an effort to think deeply about whatever is going on (the same applies to movies). This is where popcorn bestsellers come from and why they exist: to serve a market niche that, more or less, has no interest in the production of literary (or film-erary) merit. They want a quick, simple read that engages, gets the job done, and can be set down without so much as a forethought. One need not look any further than the Harlequin Romance novels, which have predictable plots and, thus, predictable characters. But, the greatest offender within fiction of any form (written or visual) is the illogical narrative. These are stories in which things happen for unclear or unknown reasons, without a logical purpose for that uncertainty; it would be fair to assume that some stories might have events which, from the beginning, seem to have no logic to them, but which might eventually appear to have an underlying logic–thus, appearances may be deceiving. Setting this notion aside, however, we can see that illogical narratives have a tendency to flirt with convenience. Things happen not because that is the logical way they should, but because there is a hole that needs filling or a shocker that needs exposing, neither of which contribute anything to the development of the character and create nothing but a bigger void in the narrative itself. I’ve made similar arguments about J. J. Abrams’ vision of Star Trek here and here, in which one need not look any further for this discussion than everything following the introduction of future Spock: here we have two characters (present Spock and present Kirk) who have come to despise one another for entirely acceptable reasons, resulting in one character (Kirk) being left on a barren ice planet where, by some magic stroke of luck, he meets future Spock, who proceeds to tell him everything that has thus far transpired and why, and that present Spock and present Kirk should become best buddies, followed by a convenient journey to a nearby Federation outpost where the missing Scotty is found wallowing in a pit. Is it any wonder why I call this convenient? The problem I see with all of this is that these sorts of convenient or illogical narratives exist in droves. Narratives have grown weak; so much attention seems to have been paid to those narratives that, more or less, don’t make sense, or are too convenient, or have no reason to be the way they are. The same is true of predictable plots, of which Hollywood is the biggest offender, with its dozens of remakes and attempts at original stories that end up falling flat–adaptations deserve to be ignored for this discussion. But why is this? What has happened to narrative that so many creators, whether in film or books, have resorted to playing with the same fire over and over? Some arguments could be made about executive control, at least in movies, but this can’t be true of everything being produced. Certainly a factor in this is buyer feedback–if a book sells, more like it will be produced. But, again, this isn’t the only factor. This problem is undoubtedly multi-factorial. Beyond that, though, I have to wonder if illogical plots are simply the byproduct of flashy everything: ideas, visuals, and so on. We’ve created an industry (book/movie, what have you) that needs to produce the thrill of a new idea, world, visual, or whatever in order to move paper and fill seats. Audiences are clambering for Transformers 2, Avatar, and Twilight, because they provide something that maybe can’t be found elsewhere–or at least can’t be found is such an obvious and easily consumable form. Perhaps what is killing narrative as the dominant mode of expression is not so much a weakness in writers, but a weakness in the market itself, which has pushed for the production of desire in everything else but the narrative. Books, we’d have to assume, are much safer than movies at this point, because at least experimentation is still being done within the literary community (including genre fiction, because I make no distinction between SF/F/H/M/R/C/etc. and “literary” fiction; the distinction is meaningless anyway). We are still seeing novels that push boundaries and try new things. They exist and sometimes sell well (China Mieville, for example, is remarkably experimental, even if it doesn’t seem like he is marketed as such). But, maybe this explains why book sales, while higher than they have been since post-2000, are still not as high as they should be. The book is lagging behind, just slightly, on the illogical narrative and predictable plot front, while movies, with their infinite ability to do new things visually, continue to move away from narrative and towards something else. Now it’s 3D; in a decade it might be some sort of weird VR experiment. I worry about narrative. It’s too important to forget, and the idea that we might one day leave it behind for something flashy, immediate, and short-lived in somewhat frightening. But what would you do if narrative died? Or do you think it’s pretty much safe and sound in its little literary house?
Haul of Books 2010: Stuff For Me v.5
Time for yet another edition of the Haul of Books, featuring stuff I bought for myself, because I like myself and feel like doing nice things for me. This is also part two of the books I picked up at the University of Florida’s book sale thing, the first half of which can be found here. There’s definitely some interesting stuff in this pile. Here goes (more after the “read more,” assuming Blogger decides to work correctly):Now that you’ve seen that beautiful picture, which isn’t fuzzy in the slightest, I’ll tell you what they’re all about, from left to right, top to bottom: 1. The Revenge of the Shadow King by Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis Max Sumner and his three best friends, Harley, Ernie, and Natalia–who form the secret club The Grey Griffins–seem to be the only people in their very normal Minnesota town to notice that strange things have started to happen. When creatures like goblins and fairies and unicorns, all characters from a card game the Grey Griffins play, begin to make appearances in Max’s backyard, Max and his friends know something is terribly wrong. And it’s up to them to stop the wicked creatures of the cards from destroying their town-indeed, their world. 2. Alien Encounters: The Secrete Behind the UFO Phenomenon by Chuck Missler and Mark Eastman Alien Encounters is the result of years of research into the history of UFO sightings, reports of alien abductions, and the struggle between Good and Evil. It confronts the issues head-on and offers answers to many of the most pertinent questions confronting mankind. Questions such as:–Are UFOs real?–Are aliens real?–Are they hostile or friendly?–Why do reports of alien abduction always seem to include experiments being performed on the human reproductive system?–Are angels involved?–Why about demons?–Is there a cosmic destiny for planet Earth unfolding before our very eyes? The answers to these questions and their implications are even more shocking than the events themselves. Behind the hype, the hoaxes, and the government disinformation lies a reality so astonishing that the original publisher was too shocked to follow through with this book. However, the reality remains: your personal destiny and that of your family may depend upon how you deal with the strange events that may soon take place. Are you prepared for an encounter? If these things are real, it will lead to the biggest challenge ever faced by mankind. There is increasing evidence that what lies behind these strange events will shortly affect every living person on this planet. 3. Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan In the tradition of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot, Cirque Du Freak is the frightening saga of a young boy whose visit to a mysterious freak show leads him on a journey into a dark world of vampires. Filled with grotesque creatures, murderous vampires, and a petrifying ending, Cirque Du Freak will chill, thrill, and leave readers begging for more. 4. Dreams Made Flesh by Anne Bishop The national bestselling Black Jewels trilogy established award-winning Anne Bishop as an author whose “sublime skill…blends the darkly macabre with spine-tingling emotional intensity, mesmerizing magic, lush sensuality, and exciting action.”* Now the saga continues-with four all-new adventures of Jaenelle and her kindred. 5. Hatching Magic by Ann Downer You never know when magic will hatch…. Poor Theodora Oglethorpe! Her biologist father has gone off to explore the jungles of Laos without her, her best friends are away on vacation, and a long, hot, lonely Boston summer is all she has to look forward to. Poor Gideon! Wycca, his pet wyvern, has disappeared through a magic hole in time in search of a place to lay her egg. Kobold, Gideon’s wizard rival, wants nothing more than to get his hands on Wycca. In a desperate attempt to rescue Wycca from Kobold’s evil clutches, Gideon follows her through the magic hole?and finds himself transported from thirteenth-century England to the terrifyingly modern world of Boston, Massachusetts, in the twenty-first century. Soon Theodora’s involved with a chocoholic baby wyvern, a mysterious wyvern playing card, a couple of desperate wizards — and the summer vacation of her life! 6. The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop William has just received the best present of his life. It’s an old, real-looking stone and wooden model of a castle, with a drawbridge, moat, and a finger-high knight to guard the gates. It’s the mysterious castle his housekeeper has told him about, and even though William is sad she’s leaving, now the castle is his! William can’t wait to play with it–he’s certain there’s something magical about the castle. And sure enough, when he picks up the tiny silver knight, it comes alive in his hand! Sir Simon tells William a mighty story of wild sorcery, wizards, and magic. And suddenly William is off on a fantastic quest to another land and another time–where a fiery dragon and an evil wizard are waiting to do battle . . . . 7. Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis A postmodern Mary Shelley, taking the parable of Frankenstein’s monster several giant steps farther, might have written this fable of a novel about a tragic race of monster dogs–in this case, genetically and biomechanically engineered dogs (of several major breeds). Created by a German mad scientist in the 19th century, the monster dogs possess human intelligence, speak human language, have prosthetic humanlike hands and walk upright on hind legs. The dogs’ descendants arrive in New York City in the year 2008, still acting like Victorian-era aristocrats. Most important, the monster dogs suffer humanlike frailties and, ultimately, real suffering more serious and affecting than the subject matter might at first glance suggest. 8. Orion Shall Rise by Poul Anderson Years after Earth is devastated by nuclear weapons, the survivors of a floating solar station above Europe assist the emergence of a low-tech civilization, until a treacherous faction seizes control of the station. And there we go. So, anything sound interesting to
New Poll: Help us pick a title for our podcast!
We need your help. Weirdside and I are making a podcast and we’ve managed to narrow it down to five titles. Each has its own charm and we’d like to get a little help from the interwebs on our final selection. So, on the left sidebar you’ll see a poll with five titles. Select the one you like the best (and leave a comment, if you so choose). First, some information about the podcast, to aid you in your voting: The podcast will focus on science fiction and fantasy literature, with some discussion of film, controversial topics within or relevant to the SF/F community, debates, and maybe some discussion of writing. There will also be some comedy tossed in for good measure. We want the podcast to be part talk show and part humor bin. Whether we succeed is another question. Each podcast will be about 30 minutes long. The object is to have fun for 30 minutes…for us and for listeners. It might also help to know what some of the titles refer to (podcast is assumed to be in the title): Stinkbeatles (this is the name of our little critique group) Sciffy and Fanty (the nicknames of science fiction and fantasy) Spellbots Undersea Ninja Factory (because we’re insane) Subgeneric So, help us choose!
Poll Results: Would you want to live forever?
The result are in, and they are: 50% said “Absolutely” 14% said “Yes, but only if I get a flying car” 7% said “No, it would get boring after a while” 28% said “Hell no…” So, a little under half of you wouldn’t want to be immortal, with a little over a quarter having a rather emotional reaction to the idea (ha). The rest would like it, but a minority had conditional leanings. Very interesting. Thanks to everyone who voted!