I'm a bit more than halfway through Lolita, and am beginning to feel disturbed and disgusted. A slow, sickening feeling has been building for a while, and finally made me realize that Humbert is not a pathetic loser, but a cold predator. He is telling his story with the object of gaining sympathy. To do this …
write six billion stories
If you were an immortal, how many stories could you write before you got bored of the whole idea of stories? I can't imagine ever getting tired of making stuff up... but I suppose there must be a limit. Every thing that has ever happened, never happened, can't happen, or must happen--all are stories. How, with …
The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber
What can I say about this book? It was a journey, an adventure, an endeavor. I loved every page of it and was left aching, (I swear I felt a physical ache) for more at the end. Every time I read one of Faber's novels, I say his characters are what make it. And this is …
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To contract or not contract
What makes a writer decide not to use contractions? Especially in a story written in first person, they seem like a natural choice to make it sound more like a person speaking. In Borne, the narrator doesn't contract. Saying 'could not' and 'can not' and 'did not' etc, isn't exactly distracting, but I notice it …
Borned
When your viewpoint character is the least interesting character in the story, this might be a problem. I'd rather read about Borne. I'd rather read about Wick. I'd rather read about 'the Magician.' I'd rather read about Morde the giant bear. I'd rather read about the mysterious scientists in the Company building. I'd rather read …
Jonas David 