Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’
In the interest of full disclosure, I had never heard of McCarthy before seeing the movie adaption of No Country for Old Men, so you can count me as someone that jumped on the bandwagon after it became popular. But boy, am I glad that I did.
As a reader I found this a difficult novel to absorb. Perhaps I have just not been exposed to such upsetting situations in the literature that I have consumed, or perhaps I was in a malleable mood when I was reading it, but I was very much unsettled by the entire experience. I have also developed an overall darker mindset over the last two years, and so maybe that contributed to it. I won’t go into details (mainly because I think that shock is an important part of the experience), but certain sections of the book forced me to put it down and take a few deep breaths. I remember swearing loudly at a scene near the end of the novel, and I vividly remember having a tough time talking to my girlfriend later on that evening. That scene in particular made me very upset, mainly because I felt that it was an entirely plausible situation. It’s distressing to be confronted with such a stark, bleak assessment of humanity and to seriously wonder if it was actually possible. I ended up not even telling my girlfriend about it, for two reasons: first, it is a disturbing image, and second, because I think that it would be easy to hear it and immediately dismiss it as false or unrealistic. It isn’t until you become entirely enmeshed in the world that McCarty creates that you start to seriously consider the plausibility of the atrocities that are committed. I cannot remember another novel that caused this reaction in me, which speaks volumes about McCarthy’s ability as a writer.
As an author I was immediately struck by McCarthy’s writing style. At the time I had never read Joyce or Faulker, two authors that are frequently mentioned when McCarthy is discussed. And even though I had been exposed to writing that invokes certain elements of that style, something about McCarthy set me ablaze. I felt as if I have never really been exposed to that fluid style of writing until reading him (and then Faulkner and Joyce…out of order, really, but at least I’ve now done it). I really can’t put my finger on it. Reading back through my work, I see that my composition style is extremely rigid. I think my writing is riddled with instances where it is obvious that I am terrified of making minor mistakes, anxious that I am going to make a dumb error with my verb tenses, and nervous that I am using the same word too often. I concentrated on the mechanical process rather than the intentions behind my writing. Reading the works of the aforementioned authors has, I think, helped me to calm down and enjoy the process rather than worry about every little comma or phrase. Hopefully this epiphany may help me open up a little bit.
You know what? I was all ready to send you to Wikipedia again, but I’m not going to do that this time. I strongly recommend reading this book without knowing any of the plot details. I know that the information is readily available, but skip it for the time being and go check out this book from your library. Reading about it on the internet just won’t give the same effect.
Posted on August 26th, 2008 at 10:28 pm by Phil | Filed under Discussion | No Comments »
Cory Doctorow’s “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom”
I was surprised recently to find out that only one of my geek friends has ever heard of Cory Doctorow, and he had only heard of him because of an XKCD comic, and even then he only knew that ‘he is a blogger or something’. I always thought that anyone that was even partially involved in internet life would know who he was. It was a bit of a shock. Once again I’ll rely on Wikipedia to help me with the details.
Cory, as an author, has definitely influenced me in my short time as a writer. Anyone looking at his site will plainly see the similarities with my own. When I started writing I was running blind. I knew that I wanted to write but I had no guidelines, no clear path. I am still pretty lost, to be honest, but things have progressed steadily and I have Cory to thank for some of that development. As time goes on I know that my writing voice will evolve and mature and that my web presence will grow and expand until it is appreciably different from his, but I could never have started out without the guidance that Cory unknowingly provided. He also is the one that introduced me to Creative Commons, without which I would I most likely would have never felt comfortable self-publishing on the web to begin with.
I read his novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom via his website. He provides plaintext versions of most of his works under a Creative Commons license, which is fantastic for people like myself who are new to him. Be honest now: what makes him stand out? I know that I would never have read anything by him except for the fact that his work was freely available. He’s an unknown science fiction writer, he hasn’t won tons of awards (this is obviously not necessary to be a great writer but it certainly helps with publicity), and his publisher was not going to dump a lot of money into promoting a relative unknown. He was basically like every other new writer trying to break into the business. Self-promotion was the key, and the fact that I could just bring up his website and read entire books for free turned me into a fan.
It’s a great novel, and I really enjoyed it. I actually went out afterwards and bought a hard copy to pass around to friends and family, mainly because it is a great example that it was possible to write science fiction that was simply good fiction. Cory has consistently produced work that I would be proud to call my own. He writes stories that are about the future without being completely dominated by technology. First and foremost his stories are about people and how they interact. As I have said before this is one kind of story that I would like to write.
A while back I read a quote from Cory that I really wish I could find, but…in searching for it, I am wondering if I just made it up and attributed it to him. I’ll paraphrase the thought: the greatest problem for new writers is obscurity. In my own case this could not be more true. I am learning and increasing my ability with every line that I write, but I am not ready to start submitting my work to publishers. I would be rejected out of hand. But by self-publishing on this site I can practice and improve, feel as if I am making progress by learning how to produce and edit a ‘final’ product, and at the same time put work out for others to enjoy. It’s the best system for someone like myself, and Cory is the first I have seen that has fully embraced it. Without him I would still be floundering, and so I am grateful.
I’ll finish up with a link to the download page for his book: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Posted on May 3rd, 2008 at 2:59 pm by Phil | Filed under Discussion | 1 Comment »
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s “Roadside Picnic”
Guess what I just received in the mail? An actual hard copy of Roadside Picnic! I ended up ordering it from Amazon UK, since no American retailer seems to carry new copies and all of the used versions are selling for upwards of sixty dollars each.
First, a quote. This is from the very beginning of the introduction:
Good science fiction is good fiction
This assertion is one which must be made again, and over again, until
the general reader and the “serious” critic cease to associate science
fiction solely with girls in brass brassieres being rescued from the
advances of bug-eyed monsters by zap-gun-toting heroes in space armor. There
is as much of a spectrum of excellence in science fiction as there is in any
other field. Mickey Spillane is not Dorothy Sayers or Ngaio Marsh. Hopalong
Cassidy is not Shane or True Grit. And the best of science fiction is quite
as good as the best of any literature.
I sigh happily whenever I read it. I paraphrase it ad nauseam to family and friends. I hope that at some point I will actually make a dent and show people that this genre is just like any other genre. I don’t know if I will see a change in my lifetime. I still receive gentle scoffs and friendly, condescending smiles. It’s alright, though. Whenever I feel doubt I just go back and re-read this story and it reaffirms my belief.
‘Roadside Picnic’ is subtle. It is about aliens and first contact and the military-industrial complex. It contains rough men performing dangerous, deadly tasks in a mysterious environment. It discusses the definition of reason and whether or not it will even be possible to interact in any meaningful way with an alien species, an alien species that could end up being so foreign to us that they are actually harmful to our well-being, or vice versa. It deals with being given answers to questions that we have not even begun, as a species, to posit. It’s fascinating, and yet you never fully realize that it is a science fiction story. It does not beat you over the head with the metaphysical aspects or shove the philosophical portions down your throat. It never showers you with technical information or spouts fantastical scientific theories. It’s just a highly entertaining story that happens to be about alien contact and how humans will react to it.
I found the use of language in this story fascinating as well. Look at the swearing: I do not think that there is ever a truly filthy word in the entire story. The juxtaposition of relatively clean language, death, and futuristic concepts is jarring and also, in a way, timeless. The types of swears used in a story can sometimes give a hint to the time setting, but in this case nothing can be gleaned from them. I can read this story in 2008 and it does not feel out of place. It could have taken place today. It could take place thirty years from now or fifty years ago. It is a subtle and amazing choice and I wonder if it was deliberate or if it was somehow cleaned up in the English translations that I have read. Either way, it is something that I would like to internalize: if you can avoid the flags or markers of your time period then you can become timeless. This does not mean that all stories should be cleaned of cultural references, as sometimes the references are important to the overall tone. Removing the cultural references of the 1800′s from ‘Moby Dick’ would detract from the story, but in the case of ‘Roadside Picnic’ it is used to great effect.
If I ever write any more science fiction stories this is the kind of story I want to write. I want to write about what will happen in the future. I am less interested in the technology and more interested in the human reactions to future events. I am betting that the concept in ‘Roadside Picnic’ is not necessarily a new one, but it opened my eyes to previously unforeseen avenues of thought. That, coupled with the entertaining subject, makes it a complete success in my eyes. I could only be so lucky as to write some comparable in my lifetime.
I’ll end this by posting a link to a soft copy of the story that I found while surfing the internet at work a few years ago. If that link is down you can google for it and find a few copies floating around. Enjoy: English translation of Roadside Picnic
Posted on April 8th, 2008 at 9:53 pm by Phil | Filed under Discussion | No Comments »
Neal Stephenson’s “Snow Crash”
The sci-fi short story is done, essentially. This is the longest piece of fiction I have ever written, currently clocking in at 10,758 words. I like how it is turning out, but I still don’t feel that I am ready to finalize it yet. My current plan is to spend the rest of this week and at least part of this upcoming weekend editing it. I’ll probably post the final version sometime next week.
In the meantime, I would like to talk about ‘Snow Crash’ by Neil Stephenson. Man, did I ever enjoy this book. Honestly, I am not sure how I was able to go for so long without reading it, what with being a card-carrying geek and all. This book seems like it was made for me.
There are two points, as an aspiring writer, that I found very interesting while reading that I would like to discuss. The first was the change in tone when the narrative switched between the main characters, and the second is the weaving of what appeared to be actual, real-world research seamlessly in with the overall story. I would normally put a plot and character synopsis here but Wikipedia has already done my job for me. Go ahead and take a look and come back when you are finished: Snow Crash
Now that you have a little bit of background, let’s get on with the tone between the two main characters. The story is told in a third person limited omniscient point of view. Hiro and Y.T. are different from each other in lots of different ways, not the least of which is their age. They obviously have vastly different speaking styles due to their age difference and upbringing, but the interesting bit to me as a developing writer is the subtle narration difference between them. When the story is focusing on Y.T. the narration lapses into a much more informal style, and she seems to notice things that only a teenage girl would notice or find important. This allowed for me to easily follow the jumps between characters, which was vital. It also has the effect of making the characters feel more substantial and real and makes the whole story much more organic and fluid.
I’ve attempted to do things like this, but really I have only touched on different speech patterns between characters. I’ve come to realize that I generally only write in the same third person limited omniscient point of view that Stephenson used in ‘Snow Crash’, but when I do this I only stay with one character. I do not jump between multiple characters. This is something I would like to concentrate on in the future, and when I do so I should remember this writing technique and attempt to utilize it.
The second point is the melding of seemingly real-world research into the overall story. Stephenson manages to seamlessly tie together ancient Sumerian history, the story of the tower of babel, and actual historical events in the middle east into the main plot. Wow, right? The mental energy that it must take to keep all of these plot points straight and to make sure that it all actually makes sense boggles my mind.
This is definitely something that takes a lot of practice and dedication to pull off. When I first started writing I felt that as long as I made up and followed my own rules and histories within each story I would be alright, and this is still true. As a reader, I do not care if an author makes up new scientific theories or if history is fabricated. That is part of the creative process. However, it is vital that whatever rules you make are followed strictly. It confuses and annoys the reader if an author introduces a rule and then breaks the rule at a later time, without any explanations. Now, a piece of fiction can most definitely make and then break rules for shock value, but it must be adequately explained. This seems like an obvious point, but I can’t tell you how many times I have read short fiction that made this mistake. I try very hard to follow my own rules in my writing.
So when does including real-world research or rules make sense? Currently I am thinking that you should include these things when you want to tell a story that is either completely based in our world or if you want to include something in the near future. Including these pieces of factual information helps the reader become more involved in the story. It has a grounding effect, making the characters and events seem more real and life-like, which means that learning this skill is extremely beneficial to an author. It definitely worked for ‘Snow Crash’, which was set sometime in the relatively near future.
Right now, I’m thinking that I will make a little list of writing techniques that I would like to address in future projects. That way whenever I begin feeling bored or unchallenged while writing (wow, what a feeling that will be if it ever comes!) I can refer back and attempt to incorporate a few of the items found there. I have a few more posts like this bouncing around inside of my head, so maybe that list will end up being rather large.
Posted on January 24th, 2008 at 7:37 pm by Phil | Filed under Discussion | No Comments »
