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| Happy Birthday, Mr. Stevenson | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 13 2010, 12:55 PM (115 Views) | |
| Aqua Letifer | Nov 13 2010, 12:55 PM Post #1 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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Ironically, I just got done reading through Treasure Island again last night, having no idea the significance of the day. Stevenson's by far my favorite classical writer. I've read a handful of his books, but to me even more impressive were his short stories. Markheim is a classic, and Olalla ten times the vampire romance story Twilight could ever be. I know it was common practice at the time but I really appreciate the diversity of the genres in which he chose to work. People just don't do that anymore. How many horror writers do you know try their hand at adventure stories, or vice versa? It's a shame writers (and readers) compartmentalize themselves these days. Some fun Stevenson trivia: - Stevenson borrowed a lot from his personal experience when he created characters for his novels. The infamous pirate Long John Silver was modeled after a close friend of Stevenson's, poet William Henley (yep, the same guy that penned "Invictus.") - He was so good at writing high seas adventures because, well, he had many high seas adventures. He loved traveling, and before permanently living there he visited the Samoan Islands and the whole South Pacific many times. The cold, damp Scottish air did a number to his health, and he was much healthier in tropical climates. - Stevenson was also a bit of an activist. He visited the leper colony in Honolulu a couple of times, shortly after Saint Damien passed away at his Molokai colony. He got into it with a Presbyterian minister in Honolulu at the time, who talked down Damien's work at the colony. Stevenson wrote an open letter to the minister, bitching him out for his naysaying. The minister's name? Rev. Dr. Hyde. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| George K | Nov 13 2010, 01:01 PM Post #2 |
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Finally
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I confess to being profoundly ignorant of Stevenson's work, but your comment reminded me of one of my orthopedic colleagues - probably the 2nd best person I've ever met - who said that most storytellers only have one good story in them, and they keep telling it over and over. |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Nov 13 2010, 01:08 PM Post #3 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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That's because they don't practice. I keep hearing people tell me "well you know, like they say, there are really only 13 (or 10, or 5, the number varies depending on who you talk to) original story ideas, all stories are just different versions of those 13 (or 10, or 5)." That's total crap, says I. There's only one original story idea: stuff happened. All stories have stuff happening in them, right? So what's the point of reading if you know that stuff's going to happen? Because you don't know the details, and if the writer was doing his job, he's made you care about the characters. It doesn't matter one iota how many war stories, romantic dramas, Gothic horror stories have already been written. It doesn't matter at all how similar your story is to someone else's. What matters is how you deal with your material, what you do with the ideas and themes. Moby Dick and Treasure Island are sea stories, are they not? Both have an intelligent, young, moral but inexperienced male as a central character? The two couldn't possibly be more different. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| sue | Nov 13 2010, 01:39 PM Post #4 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Indeed. And when writers do branch out, they are often roundly criticised for it, at least by their readers. People like familiarity. I guess I do too, sometimes. There's something comfortable about picking up a book and knowing what you're in for. But I love an author who doesn't take the safe route and tries new things. Reading gets exciting then. I recently read a book of short stories by an author (William Boyd) that was like a box of tasty samplers. Little experiments, all very different. I had no idea what to expect from the next story, and I enjoyed that. |
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| Aqua Letifer | Nov 13 2010, 02:49 PM Post #5 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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That's exactly the thing with short stories. It's a literary pinata. You never know what you're going to get and when you're done with one, you have to start reading something else (which is why I think they're not all that popular.) People are lazy these days. They want sure things. They want to be totally assured they're going to enjoy a book before they even pick it up. That's why short fiction, crossing genres and differing styles aren't popular. People are wussies.
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| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| ivorythumper | Nov 13 2010, 03:41 PM Post #6 |
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
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As much as I like him, I tend to think that is true of Forsyth. |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
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| George K | Nov 13 2010, 03:44 PM Post #7 |
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Finally
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Yep, though I enjoy him also. |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| George K | Nov 13 2010, 03:52 PM Post #8 |
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Finally
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Came across this, by accident.... How do you like to go up in a swing, Up in the air so blue? Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing Ever a child can do! Up in the air and over the wall, Till I can see so wide, River and trees and cattle and all Over the countryside-- Till I look down on the garden green, Down on the roof so brown-- Up in the air I go flying again, Up in the air and down! "The Swing," by Robert Louis Stevenson |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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