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ricardienneI was talking to A. today (it wasn't horrible, after all), and we got on to Notes From Underground. I advanced my point that there is something incredibly true about the way that Dostoevsky writes.
People are the way that his narrator describes himself -- at least I am, and A. admitted she was. People second-guess themselves, and consider other possibilities, fantasize about things being different. Don't they? Don't you? When we discussed it in class, everyone wanted to talk about the narrator as too much into his life as a book, but I think it isn't quite right to say that. While he may be considerably more messed up than most, he isn't really different in how he sees himself and his life. It might not be "normal" to fantasize and to change one's mind, but it is pretty common.
So why don't we talk about it? Why don't we admit it that we aren't consistent and can't be reduced to a predictable set of individual traits? I suppose I can be reduced so, but I don't act or think within those guidelines. This modern world has gotten very good at moral gray area, but we still insist that people are black and white. One has to have an opinion, and only a single opinion, on an issue. There's no room for shading, or for admitting that you don't know, or that you aren't sure, or that you really want it to be this case but are afraid that you're deluding yourself. And even if it sometimes comes out that real people are this way, we don't like it in literature, at all. It's called "inconsistency of character" or something
This gets at something that has been bothering my about fantasy novels for a while, although I haven't been able to articulate properly. But now that I think about it, there are very few novels of any kind that I've read that have this kind of realistic, changeable characterization. I'm sure it's quite difficult to pull off for an author.
Can anyone give me recommendations of books with characters like this? Characters who aren't just flawed, or dynamic, but are problems the way that real people are problems.
Also, I got officially contacted about the Monteverdi. It looks like I am on. Wheeeee!
In spite of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
moonbeam84's very nice comment about my layout, I have decided to change it. It isn't really drastically different, just more boring, and I don't have a nice picture any more. I am not sure I like it at all. Oh well. Change is good, I suppose, and I will continue to tweak it.
People are the way that his narrator describes himself -- at least I am, and A. admitted she was. People second-guess themselves, and consider other possibilities, fantasize about things being different. Don't they? Don't you? When we discussed it in class, everyone wanted to talk about the narrator as too much into his life as a book, but I think it isn't quite right to say that. While he may be considerably more messed up than most, he isn't really different in how he sees himself and his life. It might not be "normal" to fantasize and to change one's mind, but it is pretty common.
So why don't we talk about it? Why don't we admit it that we aren't consistent and can't be reduced to a predictable set of individual traits? I suppose I can be reduced so, but I don't act or think within those guidelines. This modern world has gotten very good at moral gray area, but we still insist that people are black and white. One has to have an opinion, and only a single opinion, on an issue. There's no room for shading, or for admitting that you don't know, or that you aren't sure, or that you really want it to be this case but are afraid that you're deluding yourself. And even if it sometimes comes out that real people are this way, we don't like it in literature, at all. It's called "inconsistency of character" or something
This gets at something that has been bothering my about fantasy novels for a while, although I haven't been able to articulate properly. But now that I think about it, there are very few novels of any kind that I've read that have this kind of realistic, changeable characterization. I'm sure it's quite difficult to pull off for an author.
Can anyone give me recommendations of books with characters like this? Characters who aren't just flawed, or dynamic, but are problems the way that real people are problems.
Also, I got officially contacted about the Monteverdi. It looks like I am on. Wheeeee!
In spite of
moonbeam84's very nice comment about my layout, I have decided to change it. It isn't really drastically different, just more boring, and I don't have a nice picture any more. I am not sure I like it at all. Oh well. Change is good, I suppose, and I will continue to tweak it.
