McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Hero of their own stories in popular media
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Aludra on August 03, 2009, 08:10:17 PM ---I mean when you, neurovore, refer to 'writing' what are you really referring to? There are so many aspects of writing: character development, plot development, pacing, literary devices, voice(s), etc.
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It's been years since I read it, and I disliked it enough that I'm really unlikely to go back and reread at this point, so there's a limt to how far I can take this, but as I recall; the prose was uninteresting, and the accuracy of the historical period (to be fair, I'm a hard sell on this one as I happen to know a fair bit about it, probably more than the average reader) is blloody awful; the people think far too much like moderns.
--- Quote ---And it's a taste thing, to boot.
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I reject that one a priori; if all there is to Qualitiy is individual taste, nothing can ever be made any better, so there's no point in trying.
--- Quote ---But no, I'm not going to categorize people's work as "bad" or "good" or "rotten" because there is bad and good in every piece,
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I don't agree here too; there are a handful of books I see no bad in, and probably a larger number in which there is no redeeming feature.
--- Quote ---So sorry, but I just disagree that judging is something you 'should' do in Author Craft. You can, surely, but 'should', nah. I prefer discussion to blatant dissing on people's work, personally.
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I really don;t see any way to become a better writer that does not start with seeing what's bad and what's good and then figuring out why; nor do I think analysis of why a book fails is necessarily "blatant dissing" - it's nothing personal, it's nothing to do with a personal opinion of the author, it's just the same sort of critique I want of my own work; an honest assessment of what in it works or doesn't untempered by unhelpful false-kindness.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Quantus on August 03, 2009, 08:23:59 PM ----Payback is a decent Mel Gibson movie about a pretty evil dude looking to get some stolen money back.
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Payback, as Lee Marvin's Point Blank before it, is an adaptation of Night of the Hunter, the first of quite a long series about an amoral criminal by Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark. I've not read most of them - I prefer Westlake's comic mode - but they're a good example of what this thread is about.
Quantus:
I cant think of any titles off-hand, but I seem to recall several books that are from the POV of Jack the Ripper.
LizW65:
--- Quote from: neurovore on August 03, 2009, 08:35:35 PM ---Payback, as Lee Marvin's Point Blank before it, is an adaptation of Night of the Hunter, the first of quite a long series about an amoral criminal by Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark. I've not read most of them - I prefer Westlake's comic mode - but they're a good example of what this thread is about.
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The first in the Parker series, mentioned earlier. I believe the title is just Hunter; Night of the Hunter is a 1950's film starring Robert Mitchum as a murderous holy man, which also qualifies it for this list.
LizW65:
Road to Perdition, graphic novel and movie (the latter has some of the most gorgeous cinematography ever; anyone who can make things like vintage refrigerators look beautiful is doing something right.)
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