Two weeks from today, I will hold the first of a pair of 90 minute sessions on reading good books. A major purpose of such sessions is to share recommendations and reactions. For many people 40 and older, it is difficult to remember all the books already read. There may be quite a few and a good part of those are not all that memorable.
For me, it is much easier to get interested in non-fiction than fiction. I am not happy about that fact since I very much like a good story. I believe part of the trouble is my age, experience and skepticism. At over 70, I have read many books. I have watched many plays, movies and tv shows. I can still be absorbed by the lovely heroine and the pining of the hero for her. But if he is simply too brave to be believed or she is too aware of just how mesmerizing she is, if the danger or the villain is simply the same old thing all over again, I am likely to wish them good luck and close the book at page 50.
For me, writing is a hobby and a pleasure. So, I am not interested in a detailed look at the exact anatomy involved in a bedroom or forest grove, whether it is romantic contact or swords and blood. I am much more interested in being interested. That requires a little personality, a little novelty, something, as we say, personal. We have all heard the old formula for a good story: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. That really is an old formula and to interest the modern mature reader, it needs to be cleverly embroidered or ignored in place of something smarter.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
