TWIB-III: 39 (7/13-7/19)

[akujunkan]

Surpringly, I managed to read two books during the final week leading up to the Hell Thesis deadline, both of them extremely good. They are:

Fatal Light - Richard Currey
Two comments about Fatal Light: 1) This may be the best war novel I have ever read; 2) People who criticize this novel for its paucity of main character description (to say nothing of development) are missing the point. A corollary: The second point is directly responsible for the first.

1) Fatal Light's plot is the plot of every war novel you've ever read: a young man, innocent and full of dreams is changed by the brutality he experiences fighting a war in a far off land. The difference here is that Currey's narrator is barely there; as do all war novel protagonists, he speaks of his childhood, his first love, his fellow soldiers, his experiences on the battlefield, on leave, in the hospital, but with little attempt to provide back story or narrative continuity. Currey's protagonist is essentially narrating this story to himself, which means there's no need for him to fill in the particulars because he already knows them fully well.

But we readers, of course, cannot know this information, with the end result that it is simply not provided. In most novels, this would be the kiss of death. Here, it is what makes Fatal Light extraordinary. Why? Because any war novel with a defined protagonist is as much about the protagonist as it is the war it's set in--what happened to the protagonist, how the protagonist's friend Johnny XYZ did or didn't pull through, if the protagonist survived this or that battle, how his family reacted when he came home. It is precisely because Fatal Light's protagonist is barely there that the novel truly becomes about the Vietnam War and not just a few of the people to whom it happened.

The same can be said for the plot. Because there's so little emphasis on the main character, the plot is not about how one man was strong enough to overcome the odds or too sensitive to withstand the horror, it's about the horror of the war itself, the damage it causes to everyone and everything in its path, which is perhaps the truest depiction of war possible. Finally, Currey's prose is so beautiful and atmospheric it defies description. This is one of the most powerful books I have read in quite some time. Read this book.

2) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Believe the hype. Believe all of the hype you have read about this book. It really is That Good. Collins is one of the few young readers/young adult authors who can actually write about violence and psychological horror in such a way that it's appropriate reading for ten-year-olds but doesn't insult their intelligence either. Her prose appears simple and straightforward at first glance, but there is a lot going on under the surface; indeed, one of the reasons it appears so simple is because Collins trusts readers to make connections and extrapolate motivations and emotions on their own, instead of holding their hands to make sure they're understanding everything correctly.

Not only does The Hunger Games rise above its potentially ho-hum premise (namely: what if reality shows like Survivor were actually played for life-and-death stakes), but it does so while rarely resorting to the deus-ex-machina and happy coincidences on which so many other authors depend to move their stories forward. This is one of the most tightly plotted novels I have read in quite some time, and its narrative development rarely strains credibility. And then there is Katniss, the protagonist and narrator of the novel. I cannot put my love for this protagonist into words. Far from being some ineffective disney princess, Katniss is tough, resourceful, doesn't put a premium on being fashionable or "nice" (or secretly wish in her heart of hearts that she was either of those things), and who spends a fair portion of the novel helping the knight in distress. Better yet, it's entirely believable; Katniss is neither superhumanly gifted nor written to some misguided idea of a "feminist protagonist" checklist. She is a supremely natural and sympathetic character.

The world needs more fiction like this. Go read this book.


That will be all.

Comments

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Right! Because it was protest that was believable given the narrative constraints. If she had stood over Rue's corpse and given a big long speech about the Evils of the System, well, Collins had already established that Katniss was way too intelligent and realistic to know that that would have any effect, but a lesser author would have had her do it anyway ("I knew it wouldn't make any difference, but I had to say my piece" or something). Here, Katniss makes her point and does it cleverly.

[bran420-7.livejournal.com]

Yes! And the tribute of bread from the district, that was impressive too. Because it was brodcast live, it was a form of solidarity and protest from a whole area under control. Totally awesome. This world kind of smells like China meets Survivior.

I was also impressed with her ability to develop secondary characters without doing the crappy descriptions (her blond hair was accentuated by the unforgiving sun, but it couldn't hide the twinkle in her expressive green eyes, blah, blah, blah...) She manages to give them a depth and a humanity that most authors can't in such a modest role.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and the fact that Katniss doesn't have to go on for paragraphs about what that tribute means, because Collins has already shown us enough of Katniss and Rue's worlds that we know without being told.

And yes, yes, yes on the secondary characters. I really hate it when authors have characters "catch a glimpse of their reflections" while just passing by a mirror or window or something, and then we're subjected to waaaay too much description for a glance. And honestly? People tend to know what they look like, which makes the whole thing reek of fakery. I'd rather have a few bits slipped in here and there and have to readjust my impressions then get an annoying info dump right off the bat.

[bran420-7.livejournal.com]

Exactly. There is so much about her writing that I love that it is hard to pick out a few examples. Well, okay, not hard, but I start to feel like a Stephen King fan, except with a GOOD author.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

THIS COMMENT, FOR THE WIN.

[bran420-7.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you. Ah, my loyal subject. Remember, I'm here weekly giving these pearls of ultimate wisdom for FREE.

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

You'll dig this. I live and die by this article when I write.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, a man of my own heart, is Chris Moore.

Incidentally, what Sherwood Smith had to say on the topic (http://www.sherwoodsmith.net/writingriffs/pointofview.html) (just do a find for the word "mirror" and you'll jump right to it) really had me reevaluating if not her skill as an author, the intelligence of taking her advice on writing.

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

Just because you can do a thing doesn't mean you should do a thing.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

What gets me about her tips concerning the mirror trope is how useless they are. I don't find her reworking of it any more believable than the "bad" example she offers. I don't know why she defends it, because the other two examples she gives are much more natural, and thus smarter, ways for going about revealing a character's appearance.

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

Her's was in a way, more trite and sentimental, because a person never thinks that hard about their appearance or backstory into a mirror. The interaction between the characters a little later in the story would have revealed (show) all of the characteristics that she bullied us with (tell). What wouldn't be shown obviously wouldn't be important.

I disliked her locked down version of POV actually. There's a bit more fluidity to it than what she was attributing to it.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

because a person never thinks that hard about their appearance or backstory into a mirror.
Exactly! I notice new zits or wrinkles, but I'll be damned if I've ever been pressed for time in front of a mirror but decided it's worth it to potentially make myself late while I try to figure out whether my eyebrows resemble my father's or my maternal aunt's.

What wouldn't be shown obviously wouldn't be important.
FAR, FAR TOO MANY AUTHORS FORGET THIS. You don't have to describe the living room down to the wallpaper and thread count in the carpet. Now, if there's a BDSM jungle gym in the corner, you might want to mention that, but otherwise, say "living room" and pretty much anyone gets the idea.

Her POV bit didn't bother me in and of itself, as it generally works well for the genre in which she writes. But the prescriptiveness of the piece kind of bugged me.

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

Now, if there's a BDSM jungle gym in the corner, you might want to mention that, but otherwise, say "living room" and pretty much anyone gets the idea.
LOL!

I think my own objections to the mirror trick for describing the main character are funniest, because I can't pass on without checking myself out. it's not that I'm vain, I just have a facination for seeing things that I can't normally see myself.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, you may have just convinced me that the mirror trick could work...as long as the character is vain or you.

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

How refreshing. "He came down the stairs hard, and stopped at the large mirror that took up much of the living room. 'Me," he thought. "Goddamn, i love me. I love my wavy black hair and my hazel eyes. I love the way my pecs press manishly against my muscle shirt, and the way my butt looks in these jeans. I love the way I don't look gay at all.' he then sped out of the room for his date, not noticing he had left his fly down."

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

YES. THIS.

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

should there be a comma after "stairs" or is it a good thing that I imply he has an erection?

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Again, yes.

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

hey while we're talking about terrible fiction, can you get me the link for that story all those guys wrote blindly to prove that the publisher was a vanity press? There's actually a publishing unit in my poetry class (score!) and he's gonna try to steer us in the right direction, and my prof seems like the sort of person who would appreciate the joke. I'm confident that my lack of clarity will not be a problem for you.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Your lack of clarity is referring to Atlanta Nights (http://www.travistea.com/), which remains one of my favorite pieces of fiction EVER.

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

I have to buy a copy of this book...I can't remember if you gave us a copy or not on the computing machine. I'm so totally going to send this to Dr. kalamaras. if he doesn't think that is hilarious, I will lose all respect for him as a teacher. I'm not familiar with any of the authors that contributed to it, though. Any recs out of the list?