4 votes

V.E. Schwab's speech, "In Search of Doors" at Pembroke Tolkien Lecture 2018

4 comments

  1. [4]
    BuckeyeSundae
    Link
    There are two creative lines of thought that really got me thinking in this speech. The first was the idea of a first work or collection of works that made you wonder and fall in love with reading...

    There are two creative lines of thought that really got me thinking in this speech. The first was the idea of a first work or collection of works that made you wonder and fall in love with reading (if you read a bunch, as I assume many of us do). When I think about what got me hooked on reading, it's either esoteric shit like a book on the Titanic sinking aimed at children in the 1990s before the movie was released, or the universe of Discworld (even though I've never read a single novel of the series), or the third appendix of the Lord of the Rings (the actual story was a bit boring and annoying to follow, but the idea of all that story behind the story fascinated me as a kid). Or it's the Martian Chronicles and Goosebumps stories.

    The other idea that stuck out to me is a single, relatively simple motivation to have interest in fiction (because I think her definition of fantasy can get broad enough that it almost might as well just be called "fiction"). For Victoria, the motivations are twofold. Initially she wanted the world to be stranger, but then she realized she wanted it to be more. Her putting it this way challenged me because I typically reject both of those reasons to be interested in something. Our shared world is plenty strange (hello, post-2016), and it's plenty enough. When I read fiction, and that still is fairly rare, it's usually because I want people in the world to be better, or because I really just want to have a dark laugh at human nature's expense.

    2 votes
    1. [3]
      cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      I think you know what I'm going to say about that. ;) It was a decent talk and I enjoyed it (at 2x speed she was still perfectly understandable too, which is nice). The premises to some of her...

      Discworld (even though I've never read a single novel of the series)

      I think you know what I'm going to say about that. ;)

      It was a decent talk and I enjoyed it (at 2x speed she was still perfectly understandable too, which is nice). The premises to some of her books caught my ear as well so I will definitely be checking them out (reading the synopsis at least). But I definitely don't agree with a lot of her points.

      That's great that she wants to write about a "better" world than our own and I even agree with her about what "better" is, e.g. two princes being able to be in love, empowered female characters, etc., but I personally don't read Fiction to escape to somewhere better. Idyllic, utopic worlds without prejudice and strife are boring and (unfortunately) unrealistic. As such, IMO we don't learn as much about ourselves and our world by exploring those scenarios.

      I much prefer realistic motivations in characters (good and bad, compassion and prejudice) set within extreme conflict and strife (internal and external) since IMO we can learn more from that. Black Mirror is the perfect example of that and even though it's Scifi/Fantasy, it is still a reflection (distorted though it may be) and so causes me to question my own beliefs, actions and reflect upon the nature of the real world around me too. It also destroys me every episode I watch and I usually can only handle so much before I need a long break to reflect on what I just watched, but that to me just shows how powerful and worthwhile it is. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series is similar in that regard. They are insanely long and extremely dark books and I have read the entire serious about 5 times now over the years... but even now, after every book I am left emotionally broken and need to take a week or more before I can pick up the next. And yet despite that, or perhaps even because of it, it's my all-time favorite Fantasy series.

      Now, with all that said, that doesn't mean pure escapism (like Discworld) doesn't have it's place and I'm not shitting on anyone who prefers it, but I really need to be in the mood to sit down and dedicate time to reading more lighthearted stuff, which is rare for me. Especially since there are so many other avenues of pure escapism that I partake in on a daily basis, e.g. Music, Stand-up comedy, etc.

      Thanks for posting the talk though... it definitely got me thinking. :)

      p.s. Do you think maybe instead of ~books we should go with ~literature or something else slightly more broad instead so it better encompasses content like this talk too?

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        BuckeyeSundae
        Link Parent
        I agree, and I think from this talk that even Schwab agrees (at one point she mentions how if a story isn't rooted in some way in reality there is nothing for her in the story). I think literature...

        Idyllic, utopic worlds without prejudice and strife are boring and (unfortunately) unrealistic.

        I agree, and I think from this talk that even Schwab agrees (at one point she mentions how if a story isn't rooted in some way in reality there is nothing for her in the story). I think literature is a good place to explore and have difficult conversations about our relationships with each other and the world more generally. The stakes are lower; it isn't real. It's the only way to stress test a reality that takes no offline function for maintenance and provides no reload if we mess something up.

        It's interesting that you bring up The Malazan Book of the Fallen, because I think it's pretty emblematic of this rise we've had in the past two or three decades of stories that have no clear hero and no clear villain. Characters that might have otherwise been put into those boxes fit in both, much like our reality.

        Now that doesn't mean pure escapism (like Discworld) doesn't have it's place and I'm not shitting on anyone who prefers it, but I really need to be in the mood to sit down and dedicate time to reading more lighthearted stuff which is rare for me.

        I totally get this (though Discworld's structure always felt sardonic more than light-hearted from what I've looked up). It's a rare day that I'll sit down and read something just because it's funny. It took me three years between picking up and finishing Good Omens. And the only reason I did that at all was because I had huge respect for Terry Prachett's very public stance (and documentary film making) on Assisted Suicide.

        Most of my time is spent reading non-fiction, like how to structure an organization to teach people at the lowest levels to think to save time and frustration up the chain, or the blind spot we humans seem to have when it comes to predicting the impacts of what we don't know. But I also understand the images that haunt someone like Victoria that become the inspiration for a lengthy story. That sort of motivation doesn't strike me as trying to escape reality but trying to cope with the strain of an unruly subconscious. So I can't say that fiction doesn't occasionally serve as a coping mechanism for me, just that I act it out a bit differently than Schwab.

        p.s. Do you think maybe instead of ~books we should go with ~literature instead so it better encompasses content like this talk too?

        I would think both ~books and ~literature are more about the works themselves than the process of making them, but if we understand the topics to include how those works are made, either would be fine. ~literature would allow more text-based works than ~books, but the idea is obvious in either case.

        2 votes
        1. cfabbro
          Link Parent
          Discworld is definitely sardonic, but it's still very lighthearted... it's basically the High Fantasy version of Hitchhiker's Guide. And if you love Adams, then you have no doubt read that...

          Discworld is definitely sardonic, but it's still very lighthearted... it's basically the High Fantasy version of Hitchhiker's Guide. And if you love Adams, then you have no doubt read that already. Incidentally, I love Adams (as a person and author) as well, but Stephen Fry is my all-time favorite person in the world. They were very close friends.

          So I can't say that fiction doesn't occasionally serve as a coping mechanism for me, just that I act it out a bit differently than Schwab.

          I can definitely relate to that since I also cope through fiction... though my coping usually involves me purposely making myself feel miserable, depressed and emotionally destroyed for a few days by reading/watching incredibly dark works. I don't know why but once I rebound I always feel much better than before. Masochism, maybe? :P