Monday, October 1, 2007

But Would You Invite Him To Dinner?





Praetorian1001 said...

It's nice to see that one of my favorite science fiction writers has a blog at last.

Thank you; as an aspiring writer, this is like finding gold.

My name is John-Mark, by the way.

I actually satirized you on my blog The Science Fiction Daily (with the utmost respect, of course).

I just got my December Asimov's as well, and I'm looking forward to your story; I'll read anything you write, at this point.

ukebard said...

Ms. Kress,

I just heard my first Nancy Kress story on Escape Pod, wonderful! I'll be looking for you in the bookstore. Thank you.


Nancy Kress said...

Thank you, both John-Mark and Josh. But, as the Virgin Mary? I mean...I do have two children!

BuffySquirrel said...

I wouldn't invite Raskolnikov to dinner--he's too rude!

I'm about two-thirds of the way through the novel atm, and I think if it had started with the murders, I probably wouldn't be as interested in reading it. But instead it starts by showing us the situation Raskolnikov is in, and the grinding poverty, and we share his thoughts and feelings, and so come to understand why he does what he does. And his increasing paranoia, in which every conversation is either a confession or an accusation, is riveting.

An advert on British tv a while back I think went to the heart of the issue. "The protagonist must be likeable--" says one voice. "No!" says the second. "We must like them!"

I think it's only that making the character likeable is the easiest way of making the reader like them. It's much harder to take, say, a torturer, and make the reader like them in spite of themselves, as Alan Campbell does in Scar Night.

Haiyan Xu said...

I don't think you need to like the characters to love a story. Fine literature explores the sophistication of human nature and I appreciate that. I hate it a lot when authors try to forge amiable characters, and usually become resentful of such characters.

BuffySquirrel said...

I can understand feeling resentment if the author's trying too hard--I recently read an ebook where the protagonist was just so loooooooooved by everybody. Ew. But I have to have some liking or sympathy for the character, some emotional investment, or I can't continue reading. If I only want to learn about human nature, I can read a psychology book ;).