passing commentary on passing commentary
Jul. 24th, 2022 04:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sideways1) Watched a cute video in which several workers at bookstores were asked what book they'd read again for the first time if they could. Naturally, this started me pondering on my own answer to the question, which proved much harder than I expected! I could name a dozen video games off the cuff that I'd love to play again for the first time, but books? Apparently I am a re-reader for a reason. Suspense and uncertainty isn't a big part of why I read, and I still feel enormous emotional satisfaction in reliving the journey - sometimes even moreso because it strips away the fear that any second the prose will turn on you. On the Jellicoe Road is beloved and the first confusing ride is crucial to the overall experience, but it was the second and third reads that made it a favourite.
That said, I managed at least three suggestions: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mystic River by Dennis Lane, and The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway. TKaM is just a wonderfully told story with the rare privilege of landing pretty much perfectly on its very first read; Mystic River is a murder mystery with twists it might be interesting to re-experience now that I'm older; and The Gone-Away World had one of the most amazing climaxes I've ever experienced that brought everything together in a way that had me slapping my ebook against my thigh in agonised delight but also my god I am never wading through the 500 pages of low-grade insanity it takes to get there a second time. (Please read The Gone-Away World. Maybe. I don't know.)
2) There have been a few posts and tweets floating around about an increased tendency in media for characters to be emotionally self-aware (or, as another post I saw put it, for characters to talk like they're aiming for an A+ in therapy). While I don't want a return to the bad habits of old - wherein characters would be bewilderingly bad at basic communication because the writers were lazily panning the mud for cheap drama instead of getting their butts down to the mines in search of well-reasoned character-driven conflicts - I have to admit, I feel like I've noticed this trend myself and I don't love it. At best, it's a little corny; at worst I feel like I'm back in some sort of secular parallel to Sunday School. It's not as though I can't enjoy a book with a bit of preaching (To Kill A Mockingbird, referenced right above!) but there are lessons that flow naturally from the experiences of the characters and then there's puppeted facsimiles of how people actually talk outside niche communities heavily invested in psychological introspection.
It's more excusable in fandom, where it can be a sign of youth, or inexperience, or even the simple fact this is the exact flavour of catharsis the writer wanted, and I can intellectually respect that even if it cuts me out as the audience. Heck, I don't even have to go back too far into my own archives to find fics where, if I were ever to rewrite them, I'd rework the conversations so they didn't lunge quite so eagerly for the resolution. But oof, it sure is a thing in fandom these days. Two Weeks was written in part because I skipped merrily to the archives in search of the emotional follow-through the Moon Knight show had neglected and was hit in the face with a wall of fics in which a trio of people who had lied to and hurt each other repeatedly over the course of the show calmly talked everything through and moved on in a single conversation, often utilising pitch-perfect terminology and understanding around DID. It just isn't satisfying to me when characters short-cut through the work like that.
(On the other hand, jumping into a speculative future in which the work has been done in order to write the fluff you crave the most? Valid. Not everyone has the time and energy for 100k of ground-laying for their 600 words of cuteness and that is completely fair.)
3) I had a third thing but buggerit I do not remember.
That said, I managed at least three suggestions: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mystic River by Dennis Lane, and The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway. TKaM is just a wonderfully told story with the rare privilege of landing pretty much perfectly on its very first read; Mystic River is a murder mystery with twists it might be interesting to re-experience now that I'm older; and The Gone-Away World had one of the most amazing climaxes I've ever experienced that brought everything together in a way that had me slapping my ebook against my thigh in agonised delight but also my god I am never wading through the 500 pages of low-grade insanity it takes to get there a second time. (Please read The Gone-Away World. Maybe. I don't know.)
2) There have been a few posts and tweets floating around about an increased tendency in media for characters to be emotionally self-aware (or, as another post I saw put it, for characters to talk like they're aiming for an A+ in therapy). While I don't want a return to the bad habits of old - wherein characters would be bewilderingly bad at basic communication because the writers were lazily panning the mud for cheap drama instead of getting their butts down to the mines in search of well-reasoned character-driven conflicts - I have to admit, I feel like I've noticed this trend myself and I don't love it. At best, it's a little corny; at worst I feel like I'm back in some sort of secular parallel to Sunday School. It's not as though I can't enjoy a book with a bit of preaching (To Kill A Mockingbird, referenced right above!) but there are lessons that flow naturally from the experiences of the characters and then there's puppeted facsimiles of how people actually talk outside niche communities heavily invested in psychological introspection.
It's more excusable in fandom, where it can be a sign of youth, or inexperience, or even the simple fact this is the exact flavour of catharsis the writer wanted, and I can intellectually respect that even if it cuts me out as the audience. Heck, I don't even have to go back too far into my own archives to find fics where, if I were ever to rewrite them, I'd rework the conversations so they didn't lunge quite so eagerly for the resolution. But oof, it sure is a thing in fandom these days. Two Weeks was written in part because I skipped merrily to the archives in search of the emotional follow-through the Moon Knight show had neglected and was hit in the face with a wall of fics in which a trio of people who had lied to and hurt each other repeatedly over the course of the show calmly talked everything through and moved on in a single conversation, often utilising pitch-perfect terminology and understanding around DID. It just isn't satisfying to me when characters short-cut through the work like that.
(On the other hand, jumping into a speculative future in which the work has been done in order to write the fluff you crave the most? Valid. Not everyone has the time and energy for 100k of ground-laying for their 600 words of cuteness and that is completely fair.)
3) I had a third thing but buggerit I do not remember.
