Re: Clue bats

JF wrote:



What that balance is, is up to the individual writer: I'm
not prescriptive here. I merely note that, in my view,
many writers are tempted to choose a balance which has
less mass market appeal than they could achieve if they
were less subtle. But <shrug> that's their choice.

If people notice and are repelled, it's not subtle.

JF
I think the base concept was that the reader had to read and think about what was happening in order to figure out how certain things happen within the given story. So, the reader may be annoyed by not understanding what's happening in the book, without ever recognizing that he could actually pick up on the cues and solve mysteries himself. Similarly, a lot of readers are left somewhat cold by "Lake Woebegone Days," because of the demand for understanding midwestern American idiom.

Heavily idiomatic writing, topical comedy, Tuckerized fiction all require some extra command of a specific vernacular. If you know the references, you may not even realize that you're part of a specialty crowd. If you don't know the references at all, you may think the story boring without recognizing that you're missing something, or the writer may have given you enough to enjoy that you don't care about the subtext you're missing.

I have some annotated Shakespeare around here. It amazes me the number of references I simply didn't get, while still thoroughly enjoying myself.

Bill

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