I Don't Think You At All Shallow... (THE LIBRARY message #2070)

I Don't Think You At All Shallow...

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Posted by Cassia on October 27, 1997 at 18:28:15:

In response to Narrative fiction, written by Jane Elizabeth on October 27, 1997 at 15:50:06

] I think some contemporary fiction is starting to rediscover pure narrative, and not a moment too soon. Two recent award winning books come to mind. One, Independence Day, is beautifully written and observed, but really has a very slight story to tell. It left me unmoved. The other, Snow Falling on Cedars, is also beautifully written, but like Posession, has a mystery at its heart. The narrative made it possible for me to grab onto the characters as I awaited the outcome of their stories. Maybe I'm just a shallower reader than some, but I NEED a beginning, middle and end.

] I just read a colection of Edith Wharton stories, and they struck me as a sort of bridge between fiction styles. Each one told a very specific, almost contrived story, and yet the characterizations were so rich they trancended the narrative. Yet in retrospect I realized that I came to care about the people because I wanted to know what happened. Isn't this the essence of storytelling? Deconstruct away, academics, but it is human nature to want beginnings, middles and ends, even if they are slightly out of order.

...JE. The narritive structure in one of the oldest, most universal traditons of human beings. If you read liturature from around the world you always run into it eventually. I think that it is part of our genetic structure and that when we try to escape it, we tend to just bob along. I read Martin Amis' Time Arrow when it first came out and I noticed upon refelection that although he had written the story backward, my mind automatically flipped it round! Even in our dreams we seek the narritive thread.

REPLIES:

Is it nature or nurture? Ann 23:27:47 10/28/97 (5)
- No Necessarily Cassia 13:43:20 10/29/97 (0)
- Narrative is naturally disorderly Jane 10:43:42 10/29/97 (3)
  - Note to Karen R: this post isn't from me! Jane Elizabeth 13:53:54 10/29/97 (1)
    - plain Jane Jane 18:54:07 10/29/97 (0)
  - I Love Betrayl. Thanks for the reminder. (nfm) Cassia 13:45:52 10/29/97 (0)

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