> Maybe the cellphones are so connected to the
marketing and
> sponsoring world ("Hey guys! Did you notice those
phones in
> Matrix? We made them!") that it's not easy to accept
them as part of a
> serious piece of literature. I think they can be
used, but they mustn't
> become a nuisance, as computers and medical jargon
in Patricia
> Cornwell. They must be used only as a tool, like
someone pointed
> out. And make it short.
Sure. Taking a cue from the last line here:
At first, people try to shoehorn technological advances into
HB novels, as Cornwell, and more recently Deaver, probably
others, and they make those tech things BIG. Very self-aware
of the toys. The key to using this aspect of life is just
that, to simply to use it as an aspect of everyday life. Not
to get excited about cell phones and notebook comps and
criminal forensics advances, but reflect how we all use the
technology. So, a guy in a book uses a computer to check
email, which could be a modern day phone call. But don't
spend so much time telling us "Hey look, a computer with a
screen and Internet, cool!" Just use it and move on. I think
it is about reflecting our times right now. 2000.
And for marketing, commercialism, reminds me of something my
boss always says, him being one of the minimalist writers
from the eighties, when he used brand-names in fiction. The
criticism was that it dates the work, it intrudes, it takes
you out of the story, blah blah. He said it was silly because
when a character poured himself a Coke to drink, these people
would rather he poured "a brown, carbonated bubbly drink" or
something. Big deal? Say "Coke" and move on. So, I think the
advantage fiction has over movies is that when we write a
product in, it's because we want it there for the character
to use and no one is paying us to have "A Mitsubishi Duojet
Satellite Video Digital Phone, finest one on the land" appear
in our private eye's hand.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 02 Feb 2000 EST