Saturday, June 7, 2014

More than Entertainment...secondly

One of my favorite books is Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter. It has lots of action, two terrific protagonists in Sam Vincent and ex-Marine Earl Swagger and a group of bad guys as brutal and dangerous as any I can think of. From cover to cover it is filled with intensity and lots of surprises.



But the real reason I like it?



Because justice is handed out.



Often times in life- not just in what we read in the papers or well on the internet since printed things disappear in droves every day- we just don't things go fairly. I mean, I think it's not right that gas prices are so high, much less that a crime as described in the book is being pulled off and gotten away with.



So any time when things do get set right as they often do in Westerns, but not as much in modern fiction, I feel that good does exist in the world. Even if it is fiction...and sometimes because of it.



When justice is handed out in the real world, that is truly worth rejoicing over. If in the case of a murder victim, the friends and family want justice but I think they have the bigger problems on their hands of how they're going to move on without their loved one in their lives anymore. Whether the killer gets justice or not, their loved one is gone forever in this life. However for the rest of us not as close, we do feel great that the perpetrator did get punished since they took so much away from somebody else.



But in fiction?



What difference does it make?



For me it makes a big difference. It means that someone else feels the same way about justice as I do. And that's a great feeling. Any time others are in agreement with me, I feel a little better about it. I think I can't help it. It solidifies my argument to an extent. It's only human nature. But I think it's more than that. It means that what I believe in is not crazy by any means. Even in the face of those who seem to never care about the victims and ONLY the rights of the killer, I can feel that I am right. And that counts.



Fiction can serve to more than entertain. In fact it often does for us deeper thinkers. Are we deep thinkers special? I don't think so. Sometimes I wish I did not think so deeply. Lots of people who do not seem to be very happy and content and often never seem to worry about much of anything. I love to be like that but it's pretty difficult when I wonder about how my words can help the world on some level? What I usually end up getting back to is...



Don't think. Write.”



Now don't get me wrong. The main purpose of fiction is to entertain. Some classics I have had to literally strain to turn another page of the monstrous thing to finish it- just to say I did it. It was a test of endurance. Would I do it again? Maybe it I ever end up in prison. But most likely no. Those older works are not meant to be that entertaining to us now. So out they go as far as I'm concerned. I'm happy that I read them, but when I really want to delve into some entertaining fiction, it has to be from this century or the last one. Just the way it is.



So if fiction is mainly meant to entertain, then why is it important to know the writer or characters in the story agree with you or your sense of justice?



To the writer, I don't think it is important. Ever really. But I think it makes us bigger fans of that writer since they were able to create a character that got to us. And because of that we remember that writer's name and we try another book. Then maybe another and another.



So any time fiction can not only entertain me, but also offer up a view point where I agree or even don't but then have my eyes opened a bit, that makes the experience that much better.



How about you?



Do you like it when the characters or events of a fictional book reiterate your own views and opinions?









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