G'day all,
Just my two cents on this... as I've been accused by some
people of going too far in my novel RAGE, but I stand by my
beliefs that the violence depicted in RAGE is necessary for
the story, and is indicative of the character's
mindset.
Surely this is most important underlying point. If it's
gratuitous for no reason at all, it really is a type of
"porn", but if it is central to the story, no matter how
appalling, then it is necessary.
As a writer, to censor myself is writing suicide. If the
story needs it, and it compelled by it, then it must be
included.
Does this mean I will lose some readers? Possibly. Actually,
probably.
But the readers who "get it" are much much more important to
me. A look at the reviews on Amazon show how amazingly
diverse readers reactions to one novel can be! RAGE is touted
as "a terrific novel" by some readers, while others call to
have me (and the publisher) locked up!
Steve
www.stevegerlach.com <http://www.stevegerlach.com/>
_____
From: Kerry J. Schooley [mailto:
gsp.schoo@murderoutthere.com] Sent: Friday, 6 July 2007
4:05 AM To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Re:
Torture Porn
At 09:29 PM 04/07/2007, you wrote:
I too was repulsed by the violence in the cellar, and I admit
I was momentarily tempted to stop reading in order to
proclaim my personal refinement and ascribe all sorts of
inferior motivations to the author. However, in this case I
carried on, having read some of the author's earlier works,
and corresponded with him on this list. I do know from some
of that earlier correspondence that the author has no axe to
grind, no point to make, no motivation, conscious or
otherwise, to write what he does, other than to entertain his
readers. Nevertheless I came away with a sense that the real
Hard Man of the title was not any of the toughs inflicting
the violence in the book, but the victim who endured it. I'm
looking forward to reading what effect this will have on
Pearce in the next one.
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