tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post3100135260614369417..comments2024-03-14T18:09:09.667-05:00Comments on Do Some Damage: What Would Watson Do?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-72478988258856694622011-12-11T09:56:40.731-05:002011-12-11T09:56:40.731-05:00Gareld,
" Parker, for example, asked, "W...Gareld,<br />" Parker, for example, asked, "What if Philip Marlowe lived in 1970s Boston?" The typical result of such experimentation is not just a new spin on an existing character, but a new character entirely."<br /><br />You've made my point better than I did. Go ahead, move a character into a different place and time. Just don't pretend he's going to be the same guy. Make him different, and, hopefully, better for the new world he's in.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-43327048601014061462011-12-11T06:07:26.352-05:002011-12-11T06:07:26.352-05:00It seems to me the restrictions placed on characte...It seems to me the restrictions placed on characters and authors naturally stem from the choices authors must make when creating characters, just as people are shaped by their upbringing and life choices.<br /><br />Once defined by these choices, characters are expected to stay consistent; the author's fictional world as a whole is expected to stay consistent. People are more allowed to change than characters, but if they do so too often, they're seen as weak of character.<br /><br />If you separate a character from the world and author that helped shape him, unless the new author painstakingly follows the original, the character will change. Individual readers are left to decide how much the character can change and still be recognized as himself. Some critics said Deaver's Bond wasn't Bond enough.<br /><br />Still, I would say experimentation <i>is</i> the norm in literature. Many if not all authors begin by imitating their idols, gradually experimenting with their own innovations. Parker, for example, asked, "What if Philip Marlowe lived in 1970s Boston?" The typical result of such experimentation is not just a new spin on an existing character, but a new character entirely.Gerald Sohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03571407711439433431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-29631656501074393692011-12-11T04:42:36.512-05:002011-12-11T04:42:36.512-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Gerald Sohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03571407711439433431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-78258421055114677842011-12-10T14:45:27.098-05:002011-12-10T14:45:27.098-05:00As fate would have it, I was listening to Brian Se...As fate would have it, I was listening to Brian Setzer in the car while running errands this morning. That Nutcracker was a blast. Thanks.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-12296506297082890812011-12-10T14:35:26.534-05:002011-12-10T14:35:26.534-05:00the problem with another author making too much of...the problem with another author making too much of a change in voice would be critical to Sherlock Holmes and Spenser novels, as they were written in the first person. How to account for the dramatic change in style? Head injury? Stroke? Maybe readers unfamiliar with the original works wouldn't notice, but they don't care about the characters, either. Might as well write something new, instead of doing the literary version of a Hollywood remake or reboot.<br /><br />Which reminds me of the real problem: the characters. If we are to invest ourselves in the Sherlock Holmes stories, we have to suspend our disbelief long enough to believe Holmes and Watson were real people. In that case, they lived in Victorian England, with the styles and customs of the day. Same thing with Spenser and Boston. If too many changes are to be made, why bother with the original characters, as so much of what made them who they are is rooted in when and where they were.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.com