First, to me, this discussion pertains to ***my fiction*** so
it's fiction relevant to me. Second, without the reality, the
fiction can't occur and the best fiction, as we all know, is
the fiction that most powerfully injects the facts of reality
into the mind of the reader. If the whole list gets bogged
down in loosely related topics, I agree that would undermine
the purpose. But this is one topic interesting to a few of
us. There are several other conversations going on. Please
allow us to finish our thoughts on this topic. We will move
on. I do find it a little troubling that some people
profoundly attracted to the grittiest aspects of crime
fiction are put off by discussions about the elements of life
that this fiction is actually about. It is only by studying
these elements of life that new and innovative crime fiction
can evolve. It is not just for his dialog that Elmore Leonard
is noted at the best writer living for this type of fiction.
It is because he understands and relates who and what
criminals are, and their use of the loopholes that exist in
the laws that try to restrain them. If he didn't take that
extra push for the reality of the situation, he'd just be
another crime writer with snappy dialog and fake polts.
Patrick King
--- hardcasecrime <
editor@hardcasecrime.com> wrote:
> It does seem to me that there is a basic
difference
> between
> discussing the death penalty (or any other topic)
as
> it appears in or
> relates to fiction and discussing it purely as
an
> issue in the real
> world. I'm not saying one's better or worse
than
> the other -- it's
> not -- but there are different places where each
is
> appropriate.
>
> If this were a mailing list about cooking,
and
> people used it to
> compare recipes, discuss cooking techniques,
share
> menus, review
> restaurants and chefs, etc., and someone started
a
> protracted
> diatribe about cruelty to animals, would that
be
> appropriate? It
> would be a perfectly reasonable topic to discuss
--
> but not in that
> location, since that's not the purpose of
that
> discussion group.
>
> Similarly, a protracted discussion of the
Anthony
> Pellicano case
> would not (I think) be appropriate on Rara-Avis
--
> he's a detective,
> but he's not a detective in *fiction*, which is
what
> we're here to
> talk about. Now, if someone wrote a novel
about
> Pellicano, fine; if
> someone said, "What novels resemble the
Pellicano
> case?" fine; if
> someone wanted to talk about books that raise
issues
> similar to those
> raised in the Pellicano case, fine. But to
just
> talk about a non-
> fictional case itself, at length, for message
after
> message after
> message, with nary a reference to fiction along
the
> way? I doubt I'm
> the only person here who finds that annoying
and
> disruptive. It's a
> conversation I might well be interested in
taking
> part in somewhere
> else -- but not here.
>
> Just my 2 cents, obviously, and if the
broad
> sentiment is otherwise,
> so be it. But this is not what I, at least, come
to
> Rara-Avis for.
>
> --Charles
>
> P.S. To avoid any misunderstanding, I am
not
> complaining at all about
> the *content* of anyone's comments. It's not that
I
> am offended by
> one or the other sides in the death penalty
debate,
> or that I am
> bothered by the discussion of sensitive topics,
or
> anything of the
> sort. I only object to polluting a crime
fiction
> list with an
> extended discussion of a topic other than
crime
> fiction. Talk about
> the *connection* between fiction and the real
world
> all you want --
> but when you start talking *only* about the
real
> world, you're doing
> in the wrong place.
>
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Michael Robison
> <miker_zspider@...> wrote:
> >
> > Curt Purcell wrote:
> >
> > So does brutal interrogation, but I hardly see
the
> hot
> > lights and rubber hoses of a Gold Medal classic
as
> an
> > appropriate jumping-off point for a debate
about
> > Abu-Ghraib or Gitmo. Why? Because fiction
is
> > fiction. It's make-believe, no matter
how
> "realistic"
> > it pretends to be. That's why I read
it.
> >
> > ***************
> > Not much I can say to this. To me, the
connection
> > that fiction has to the real world is what
makes
> it
> > vital and relevant.
> >
> > miker
> >
> >
__________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best
spam
> protection around
> > http://mail.yahoo.com
> >
>
>
>
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