Sorry I didn't get a post written last week. Real life got in the way.
Less real-life related, my brother recently introduced me to a TV show called Falling Skies. The setting is post-Apocalyptic (or rather, post alien invasion.) Normally I steer clear of post Apocalypses, but I really enjoy Falling Skies. The hero is likable. He's a history teacher whose main goal is to protect his three sons. Despite being surrounded by Hollywood style explosions he manages to stay optimistic. The basic storyline is how people react to disasters, how it makes them draw together (or not).
Now, I've just admitted that I don't read a lot of post-Apocalyptic fiction. Falling Skies has me wondering if that's something I should fix. I've always had this sort of mental picture of the genre as being very Orson Wells in mood. You know, `humanity is scum' and all that. Lets face it, there's plenty of evidence out there that humanity is scum. You just need to open a newspaper to get the idea. I prefer books and movies that are a bit more hopeful; the ones that say `hey, not everyone is scum.'
Even if most of the people in the story are scum, there should be at least one kind person to make a contrast. It's like tenebrism -those pictures with extreme contrasts of light and dark. If all you show is the dark, nobody can make out what the picture is of. A genuine good guy in a world of dark can go a long way toward illuminating your story.
I like your idea of contrast here. I think I'd like it even better if the good guy occasionally met another good guy. As you said, most folks may be scum, but not everyone. Just as having a good guy provides contrast for the bad guys, having the good guy meet another good guy provides contrast for their relationships with all the bad guys. {Smile}
ReplyDeleteAnne Elizabeth Baldwin
That is very true. And rare, now that I think about it. In `The Two Towers' Frodo and Sam meet Faramir just as they're getting into the really dark part of the story, so falling in with an honorable man makes an especially nice contrast. I'm trying to think of any other stories that use that dynamic. Probably, but I'm not coming up with any off the top of my head.
ReplyDeleteOh, there was a post-apocalyptic TV series... {dash off}
ReplyDelete{come back} Jeremiah was it's name. When you mentioned Frodo and Sam, I remembered it, because Sean Astin joined the cast as Mister Smith while there was still a fair bit of buzz about his performance as Sam in Lord of the Rings. Anyway, Jeremiah was post-apocalyptic, but there was a core of at least two or three good guys, and they'd meet others every once in a while. Including Mister Smith, who they met early in their second season. There were quite a few mysteries about the character, but he was well-meaning, and interested in traveling with the established good guys so he could help them. {Smile}
Still, it's pretty rare if we come up with only two between us. {Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
`Jeremiah' sounds interesting. :) The novelist Stephen Lawhead has some nice good guys meeting other good guys in `The Silver Hand' the second in his Paradice War trilogy. (I read `The Silver Hand' first, so its the one that really sticks out to me in the series.) That's another book that's pretty dark, but the characters serve to counteract the black morbidness. (Morbidness- I think I just invented a new word.)
ReplyDeleteThanks. I might look into the Shtphen Lawhead sometime. We have his Taliesin/Merlin/King Arthur series, but I don't think we have the Paradise War. Maybe the library does, or I could order it if it looks interesting enough. {Smile}
ReplyDeleteAnne Elizabeth Baldwin
Wow! I thought the computer ate that comment. Glad to see I was wrong. Lawhead does have an interesting take on Arthur, doesn't he? It's so cool when writers go pre- Middle Ages, which is actually more historically accurate. :)
ReplyDeleteThe comment got here. I'm half suspicious it took it's time getting here, but it arrived eventually. {Smile}
ReplyDeleteYeah, I like a pre-medieval Arthur. It's better for history, and it's a nice way to make it stand out from all the other King Arthurs. So many people have written versions of that legend, it's hard to find something new in the thing. It's much like Robin Hood in that way. {lop-sided Smile}
Oh, I like both legends well enough, but I wish folks would look at other stories more often. There are so many others that are also good, and heard a lot less often. {Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Like Blondel tracking down King Richard by singing outside his prison? That's one that gets referenced often, but it's hard to track down the original. (I found it on Google once... then forgot to bookmark it.) It would be so awesome if someone would have the Blondel story bleed into the end of Robin Hood -you know, the bit where Richard Returns? I mean, how would that look to Blondel and his wife, the jailer's daughter whose name I forget?
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with Blondel, so yes. I'd like to see his story. I'd like to see the stories of some of Arthur's knights, especially Gawaine and Caradoc. Or hop over to the cycles of Charlemange. I rarely see even the main story of that one, but I'd particularly like to see Huon and Ogier's tales, and maybe other lesser knights in his court. I also have found some lovely Celtic and Spanish tales from the Middle Ages, and I'm sure that most other countries have similar things to contribute. {Smile}
ReplyDeleteHowever, I rarely find any of them in modern retellings. You'd think the Middle Ages began and ended with King Arthur and Robin Hood. {lop-sided Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
I haven't read much Chalemange. It's a little harder to get ahold of, probably because of needing to be translated. That's always the problem with only reading in English, I wonder how much that affects what's written. `Robin Hood' and `Arthur' are both English legands, which make them really accessable to American audences. (Accessable in a `find it in the library kind of way.) I know I can only read the works of Victor Hugo or Voltaire that are translated. (Not that I'm that big into Voltaire.)
ReplyDeleteStart with Blufinch's Mythology if you want to look into Charlemange. The third book is completely devoted to legends of his court. It's more detailed plot summaries than developed stories, but it's detailed enough to can give you a fair idea of the story. {Smile}
ReplyDeleteYou have a point about needing to find translated versions. Yet... A lot of of the King Arthur we have is translated from the French. Lancelot was added in France, yet he's one of the best known characters. Besides, the Welsh, Irish, and Scottish all have legends I rarely hear that are in print as folklore, and not too hard to find in most libraries. {Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Thanks. I have heard of Blufinch's Mythology. I ought to actually do a proper study. (The ammount of things I decide to do a proper study on, half read, and then get distracted from, is enough to fill half my library.)
ReplyDelete{chuckle} Sorry, but if I'd determined to make a systematic study of Bulfinch's Mythology, I'd still be meaning to get around to it, too. I find it's better to treat it as a collection of short stories. Even then, I try not to think of them as the the kind of stories I'd study for school, but the kind I read for fun. That way, I'm free to read Carradoc of the Shrunken Arm, Huon of the Horn and Ogier the Dane again, without feeling guilty for not having sat thru Galahad and Roland all the way yet. {Smile}
ReplyDelete(Technically, they aren't short stories, but summaries of long stories. Still, many can be read in one or two sittings, so they aren't long. They're just heavy on the action and light on the dialog and character development. {SMILE})
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
:) Oh, that `a proper study' did bring up an image of pouring over dusty tomes, didn't it? My `proper studies' usually just involve reading the story, plus introductions and footnotes, and any other version I happen to get my hands on so I can compare. There's nothing systimatic about it -and I tend to get distracted halfway through and end up with piles of books that I can't put away because then I'd forget that I was reading them. :)
ReplyDeleteI see. That's still a little more systematic than I am about looking into stories. I'll read the stories, and probably any notes with them, but I don't really search out different versions. I keep an eye out for them, but I could be a lot more dilligent about camparing different versions. {Smile}
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you learn more about the stories, even with getting distracted halfway thru. I do that, too, and I'm not tackling as big a project in the first place. {SMILE, wink}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
I don't always look for alternate versions. It's more like if I know there's an alternate version out there it tends to itch at my curiosity until I either get distracted by something shiny or go ARRRGGGH! and make a proper search just so I can stop wondering how they stories are different.
ReplyDeleteI can see being curious about alternate versions. Alternate versions have to be different, so just how are they different? {SMILE, wink}
ReplyDeleteAnne Elizabeth Baldwin