07-29-2009, 02:10 PM | #16 |
Resident Curmudgeon
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Religion doesn't make sense and yet a lot of people believe in it.
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07-29-2009, 02:13 PM | #17 | |
Wizard
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For a moment I was afraid you'd say something rude, arbitrary, and irrelevant! - Ahi Last edited by ahi; 07-29-2009 at 02:20 PM. |
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07-29-2009, 02:14 PM | #18 |
Groupie
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07-29-2009, 02:17 PM | #19 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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It doesn't really matter what the subject matter is. E.g., historical novels shouldn't have glaring anachronisms. |
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07-29-2009, 02:17 PM | #20 |
Wizard
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Quite right.
The same dastardly practice is responsible for most people's obstinate belief in wearing clothes even in weather that does not necessitate it. I propose government legislation against both of these forms of heinous brainwashing. - Ahi |
07-29-2009, 02:18 PM | #21 |
Wizard
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07-29-2009, 02:19 PM | #22 | |
Wizard
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There's nothing wrong with implausible stuff, so long as the writer has explained why it is so despite the apparent implausibility. But I hate feeling smarter than the writer. If I figured it out, he/she should also have. It seems pointless to read something written by somebody who is clearly intellectually duller than I... hell, what if I catch what they have? - Ahi |
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07-29-2009, 02:34 PM | #23 |
cybershark
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07-29-2009, 02:39 PM | #24 | |
Wizard
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- Ahi |
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07-29-2009, 02:49 PM | #25 |
Has got to the black veil
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Of course the plot must be logical, even in fiction.
Stephen King's book Misery talks about this. You may be familiar with the plot--a writer crashes his car in a remote area and is taken in by a crazy killer nurse who is his Number One Fan and forces him to write a book to bring back to life his main character, whom the crazy nurse loved and the writer killed off. At first the writer figures she's not that discerning a reader and will be happy with anything, and he writes some crazy melodramatic comes-back-to-life story. Annie (the crazy nurse) reads it and says, "No, this won't do. You're cheating." She explains that when she was a child, she went to see the weekly serial at the Saturday movie matinee, and one week the hero's car had plunged off a cliff and burst into flames. All week she wondered and worried about the hero, and hurried back the next week to see what had happened. It turned out he had jumped out of the car before it plunged off the cliff. But they hadn't shown that, and she felt cheated. She said sloppy plotting was cheating. She made him rewrite it and make it good and not cheating. Misery is a great book. It's not just a horror novel--it's about the writer's muse. Seriously! That being said, I agree that NYC would be an odd place to go after a nuclear war--it seems like it would be one of the most devastated places. Out in Montana or something makes more sense. |
07-29-2009, 02:52 PM | #26 |
Apeist
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07-29-2009, 02:57 PM | #27 |
Astak Director, Bus. Devl
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The best part of fiction is...
Dear All:
I am one of those people who feel that the best part of fiction is that it is plausible, could happen, I can picture it and build a painting in my head, and that parts of it may or may not be fiction. Travis McGee (by John D. McDonald) was a big drifting beach bum with a penchant for helping people in need. The fascinating part was after reading twenty Travis McGee books... I felt Travis was almost a friend. The fiction was so close to non-fiction that I could place myself there easily. It always made perfect sense because John D. McDonald was a master author... he made Travis McGee come to life just as Roddenbury made Spock come to life within all of us. There is an old saying called "Live The Dream". To me, that is good fiction! |
07-29-2009, 03:01 PM | #28 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I agree with this. It is sci-fi so it probably won't work right now, but there is some theory (however twisted) that would make it possible. The same with fantasy. Even that should have some logic behind it. The best books are those that are well thought through. There is a backstory (that isn't told, but rather hinted at) that does explain everything that happens.
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07-29-2009, 03:03 PM | #29 | |
Wizard
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Yeah, but surely it's not when somebody tries to reconciliatorily suggest that neither side is obviously right... as opposed to agreeing with you that your side is right and the other wrong. - Ahi |
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07-29-2009, 03:07 PM | #30 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Suspension of disbelief is always up to the reader to decide. There are plenty of examples of plots and settings in SF that the reader suspends a lot of disbelief in... the entire Star Trek canon, for instance. But even if you ignore the scientific fallacies, mostly engineered to advance the stories, you can find some great literature in there. (Sometimes.)
On the other hand, if you are more demanding of your science, suspending your disbelief can ruin the story for you. So you decide what is and is not acceptable, to allow you to enjoy the story experience. Some people can turn it on and off at will, others can't. So you just go with what works for you, you either swallow the scientific problems (and even the best SF literature has it), or you stand by them, and see what stories are left for you. |
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