Re: The Character You Hate the Most (Spoilers)

Danny Sichel <dsichel@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Tina Hall wrote:

>> They'd fit the list. You know how people type one word and mean
>> another... If anyone actually truly hated a character, they
>> wouldn't be posting rants about them, they'd be frothing at the
>> mouth, stalking down the author, clutching sharp metallic
>> objects, to do something about it. (Wasn't there some Steven
>> King book/movie thing?)

> That'd be _Misery_, a book which I feel certain Tina would not
> like.

Danny is talking me in the third person[*]? Now things are
getting _really_ weird. <g>

But you're right. I've seen parts of the movie, I think
(preview, trailer, or something of that sort), and found it
rather boring. I don't think any Steven King would cause a
different reaction.

>> See, truly hating characters is just nuts.

> Well, so is believing in them.

Are we now joining that relitious nut thread?

> It's a kind of mock-belief. I don't *actually* believe in
> Nicholas Valiarde, for example. But in the context of the
> novel of which he's the protagonist, he is believable. I
> believe in him.

No idea what you're talking about.

Look, they're characters, nothing real. There's no belief, just
imagination. Words creating pictures, enjoyable emotions if it's
good. It doesn't need many (or even any) words to create a
picture, but seeing the characters and landscape like a memory
doesn't make it genuine.

And that 'vision' is there whether they're convincing
(believable, but nothing to do with 'belief'), or not, lively or
cardboard, original or stereotype.

One kind just is enjoyable, and the other a waste of time.

Neither needs any skill at writing at all. "Car on street."
creates a picture. Hell, "Rasfw" creates a picture.

> It's like suspension of disbelief, I guess. In this case, we're
> talking about suspension of dis-hate.

If I get this right (assuming you had an inversion too much
there somewhere; dis-hate would be 'not hate', and why would you
have to suspense that...), I don't think it's worth it. If you
suspense your dislike (to put it simpler) of something that's
not enjoyable, you're just wasting your time. Like plodding
through a bad book on some irrational feeling that you have to
finish it.

I'm reminded of people often mentioning throwing books at the
wall. That, too, is far too energy-consuming an action for
something clearly not worth the energy.

<snip>

I don't read poetry.

[*] Have you ever had someone adressing you, face to face or on
the phone, in a one-on-one conversation, with 'he'? I can tell
you from experience that it's very odd, and an instant 'what a
moron' signal.

--
Tina
To Hell with internet.
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