Prospective Points of View

Point of view is everything to a story.

 After I started looking into literary theory, I noticed how much more complicated story telling had become just by learning a bit.  Now when I look to construct a scene it takes a whole new dimension.  

No longer do I care just what is said, but how it’s said.  Or maybe nothing should be said at all?  Ah, it never ends.  Thus, if I hadn’t read The Art of Fiction by Ayn Rand, I wouldn’t even know all of this mattered.   

So, expanding your own perspective about story telling and learning what makes a good story is the key to understanding the way others think.  And that is how to find what people like or dislike and why.  This is very important  when writing to a specific audience.

Simply understanding the way others think will allow you to write tailored to what is familiar and that which will draw interest.  But, if you want to write something great, you must do it in a way a great writer would appreciate.

That is why studying literary theory and classics is the first step to great writing.  You must captivate not only the readers, but the dreamers, critics, and the scholars.

This book is a great tool and one that can be read once and referred back to when the whole idea becomes fuzzy again.  It is a great book for all the various levels of writers.

Next a Spy-Thriller

#2  Shibumi by Trevanian

 This novel jumped out at me, while I was browsing the bookstore.

It’s the story of Nicholai Hel an internationally interchangeable assassin who is indifferent to national identity.  He is introduced to the game Go, and inspired by a single word, Shibumi.  

Ancient board game Go

Shibumi-  in Japanese, is an aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty.  

Or as I see it- a modest, but not to be underestimated, refinement.

Nicholai is referred to as Nikko in Japan where he trains under a Seventh Dan.  (Which I imagine is comparable to a seventh degree black belt for anyone who isn’t familiar with the Dan system)  

Nikko is destined to become a badass.

It is really strange to come across this book at a time when the same problems written about in the 1970s have multiplied.  Except, since these problems have gotten relatively worse over time, no one seems to notice them anymore.  

It’s funny to note that this novel doesn’t hold back in stating the issues.  Materialism.  There’s a concept where most people will turn a blind eye, but in reality it has spiraled seriously out of hand.  For anyone who’s been out of the country, it is easy to make a quick comparison.   

Also note through personal study, the Japanese never favored the merchant.  Merchants made nothing themselves but profited from the good work of others.  This reasoning is wise. 

Much to be learned from Shibumi.

Original Picture

#1 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

 Having finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book one of five, I am happy to say it will be a pleasure to continue on with the rest of the series.

Arthur the displaced Earthman drifts about the galaxy caught up in something that he knows is far beyond his control.  The entire setup seems as if Douglas Adams outright forgot the plot, but this is just not true.  Some would complain, but the rest of us know his methods are necessary for the story we are dealing with here.  

It is told through mainly Arthur, a human who was somewhat-willingly abducted by a hitchhiking alien just before Earth’s destruction.  He has become a drifter, not so much confused as bedazzled by the extent of what he did not know before.  Thus, the story unfolds in a rather peculiar way.  But, this is intended and should be understood as intentional.  If you don’t see a plot, it is because the main character isn’t yet in-the-know about this strange new perception of the world.

It really is a dose of delusion.  But the good kind that keeps you reading on into the dead of night.  With just the right amount of crazy, you are pulled into a witty and revealing story of Earth’s creation.  Though the silly nature of the story doesn’t come across as being anything other than ramblings of farfetched characters and situations, it settles down nicely when it subtly makes you look at life's big questions in a new light.  

The story grabs you with outlandish statements such as, the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything can be found by a super intelligent computer program called Deep Thought.  And after processing the question for seven and a half million years, it finds the answer. 

But is there really something there?  Or as Arthur puts it, “….All through my life I’ve had this strange unaccountable feeling that something was going on in the world, something big, even sinister, and no one would tell me what it was.”

Old man Slartibartfest says,  “Maybe.  Who Cares?  Perhaps I’m old and tired, but I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied.”

These types of statements are what makes this book remarkable.  To sum up something so extraordinary into such a simple statement is great writing.  It helps us understand life itself for our own benefit.  Yes, you can continue to wonder, but let’s face it.  You may never know.  You will likely never know.

Then again, it reminds us how fun it is to wonder.  And that is why I love this book.

Douglas Adams.  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (New York:  Ballantine Books, 2005), 192-193.

Don't Panic

#1 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I’m not surprised.  

 This book is overly absurd and just plain ridiculous.  But I guess that’s what made it into what it is today, a comedy classic of science fiction. 

Arthur Dent (human) escapes with Ford Prefect (Betelgeusian) just before Earth’s demolition to make way for a galactic hyperspatial express route.

 The quirky characters and dialogue are what really drives this story to its current status.  Yes there’s a plot, but that’s really not the point.

I find the most random facts untold by the famous text The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to be both interesting and hilarious.  Who knew you could put a Babel fish in your ear and understand any language?  (not to mention the sheer existence of such a fish disproves the logic of God… or does it?) 

This story keeps you on your toes just to ponder such ideas for the sake of entertainment.  And though you thought humans were smart, the poor displaced Earthling Arthur learns different.  Don’t let those mice fool you into thinking humans were running scientific experiments on them.  It's actually just the opposite.  Needless to say, the dolphins tried to warn the humans that Earth would be destroyed.  But, those humans just wouldn’t listen.

It’s a page turner.  Each chapter is just a few pages.  And, just a few chapters left to go.

A book a week.

  To write, you must first read.  If not for inspiration, for the appreciation of literature.  This is the tale of my own exploration into books and writing.  Asking, what is the true essence of a story?  What gives a story power over a generation?  How does it continue to inspire readers for spans of hundreds or thousands of years?

#1 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 

I will journey into the heart of storytelling by starting with a simple goal.  A book a week.  Wish me luck. 

 Starting off easy with a comedy.