Why Bookstores Are Closing
Just came from browsing at Borders. I opened a new title by [a nameless well-published author]and began reading, but had to stop at: "...and the leaves whispered to the ground."
And what is this obsession with fantasy and repetition? They're trying to sell the same book with a different cover, over and over and over. In the beginning, Harry Potter was fresh and interesting, but jeepers, don't they know people have limits? Then there's the Harry Potter copycats. It's the Avatar-Star Wars Retread Syndrome--the same worn-out story with different characters. I had the same feeling with LORD OF THE RINGS. Monsters being defeated in all sort of impossible ways. How many monsters before you have a cliche? How many handsome/pretty heroes before the hero's journey is overworked? Too many people have taken Joseph Campbell 101.
If this is all that traditional big publishers and booksellers can turn out, is it any surprise that the big book stores are closing?
I think a return to Realism is overdue.
I watched the '05 BBC miniseries (all 15 episodes) of Dickens' BLEAK HOUSE a week ago. Now there's a story. A bit long and convoluted by today's measure, but it held my attention because the plot twists and turns challenged me and because of the strength and variety of characters (villains too) with whom I could identify. No monsters. No magic powers. Realistic characters with real-life issues.
Prediction: The fresh ideas in fiction are going to come from eBooks, where New York's inbred big publishing gate-keepers are less in control.
What do you think?
Real happiness, genius and greatness are achieved only by discovering and remaining true to the inner, primeval and eternal voice of intuition. ...build therefore your own world, and as fast as you conform your life to the pure idea in your mind, that world will unfold its great proportions.”
—R.W. Emerson ("Nature")
About Monty
Originally from Texas, I currently hail from the San Francisco Bay Area. My short stories and poems have won contests and been published in various literary magazines, including Forum and Synchronized Chaos.
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hero's journey
I had to laugh at this. I feel your pain. But EVERY story uses the hero's journey pattern (see http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html ); some are done better than others. It's been used in all the old movies too, way before Star Wars. And lots of real life stories with real characters use it too (Annie Hall, the Hustler, Casablanca...name one, it uses it). I really think it's a fundamental way of telling stories.
Agreed That It Works, But What About Cassablanca?
This story (told in film) is widely held to be one of the greatst of all time, yet where is the classic "Hero's Journey"? There's no conquest of anything but a man's inner desire for love. The Nazis are defeated only symbolically through the death of the colonel. Rick kills him, only to surrender the woman he loves to a higher cause. Ilsa gets on a plane with a man she doesn't love for the same reason.
There are many forms of heroism, surrender and sacrifice among them, but the stuff of popular fiction seems to have become repetitive and cliched with over-simplistic villians/monsters and two-dimensional (invariably pretty/smart/gifted/unrealistic) heros and heroines. Stores are closing. People and kids aren't buying "it" anymore, and kids are tomorrow's leaders and consumers. Perhaps we need to step up to the challenge.