I've decided that I need to read some Bujold, since you and Em both like her work.
More on the topic of the essay, I've found that in my own worldbuilding, generally I'll get two sides of a world - one will be the very general layout, and one will be single-character specific. Usually the latter takes over, which is probably why people end up writing hero narratives, if they're anything like me - the single hero is the person who's loudest in your head.
Well, yes. But what about the times when the loudest one isn't a Hero? (I'm using the word in Le Guin's way, here.) I think a lot of mediocre stories come out of writing a Hero story with a main character who is not a Hero-type.
...you've probably hit on what frustrates me most about the Miles books - the fact that you start out expecting this nice, familiar, exiting yarn; and then she does something with Miles and you're left wondering ???? what happened to the good old climax and resolution? I don't feel that wrenching sense of loss when I read a Charles deLint novel, because his stories never promise a 'traditional'-type narrative to begin with - but then again, I've never successfully finished reading a full-length novel of his...
Mercedes Lackey is more popular than Bujold? really?
would you consider The Last Unicorn as Hero in Carrier Bag? it's never really fit into the traditional story category for me...
Not that I've done a scientific popularity study, mind you, but based on books-in-stock at popular chains it sure looks that way to me. From a more personal view of the two fandoms, I'd say Lois' fanbase is far more stable, but Lackey's, despite high turnover, is fed with a constant stream of newcomers. Kind of the way Eddings is. They're easy.
Hm. I actually think tLU is a fairly classic Hero shaped story. The end isn't one of the triumpal ones, but the momentum and outline of the story itself fit pretty firmly. It does some really cool things with portions of the outline, like the unicorn's tragic Bildungsroman experience. But the shape is still your basic streamlined Heroic Story of Overcoming.
I wrote this for a school project about my reading, and it seemed at least semi-apropos:
Some of the meaning of The Last Unicorn is conveyed, near the end of the story, when Prince Lír says, “The true secret of being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. The swineherd cannot already be wed to the princess when he embarks on his adventures, nor can the boy knock at the witch's door when she is away on vacation. The wicked uncle cannot be found out and foiled before he does something wicked. Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.” (Beagle 212) Throughout the book is this half-jesting strain of talk about heroes, stories, and fairy tales. The characters know that they are caught in a story, and that their parts are, to a certain extent, fixed. They compare themselves to the ideal form of who they are, and inevitably find themselves wanting. But in this they undervalue themselves; they are not meant to be the ideal. They are exactly what they must be, in order to bring the story to its right conclusion. This may not be a happy ending for all of the characters, but it is what the story demands and deserves.
I confess, I don't remember the exact details of The Last Unicorn enough to remember if there were carrier bag digressions or not. But it certainly wants to think it's a Hero story.
It's not a carrier bag story. It's small and carefully pruned. If anything, it's a poem: every character, no matter how peripheral, every line written is there for three different carefully chosen reasons. (Can you tell I love this book?) But I also think it's a bit postmodern to be a Hero story.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2005-06-27 02:08 am (UTC)More on the topic of the essay, I've found that in my own worldbuilding, generally I'll get two sides of a world - one will be the very general layout, and one will be single-character specific. Usually the latter takes over, which is probably why people end up writing hero narratives, if they're anything like me - the single hero is the person who's loudest in your head.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 07:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-28 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 02:25 am (UTC)Mercedes Lackey is more popular than Bujold? really?
would you consider The Last Unicorn as Hero in Carrier Bag? it's never really fit into the traditional story category for me...
no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 08:00 pm (UTC)Hm. I actually think tLU is a fairly classic Hero shaped story. The end isn't one of the triumpal ones, but the momentum and outline of the story itself fit pretty firmly. It does some really cool things with portions of the outline, like the unicorn's tragic Bildungsroman experience. But the shape is still your basic streamlined Heroic Story of Overcoming.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-28 03:26 am (UTC)Some of the meaning of The Last Unicorn is conveyed, near the end of the story, when Prince Lír says,
“The true secret of being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. The swineherd cannot already be wed to the princess when he embarks on his adventures, nor can the boy knock at the witch's door when she is away on vacation. The wicked uncle cannot be found out and foiled before he does something wicked. Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.” (Beagle 212)
Throughout the book is this half-jesting strain of talk about heroes, stories, and fairy tales. The characters know that they are caught in a story, and that their parts are, to a certain extent, fixed. They compare themselves to the ideal form of who they are, and inevitably find themselves wanting. But in this they undervalue themselves; they are not meant to be the ideal. They are exactly what they must be, in order to bring the story to its right conclusion. This may not be a happy ending for all of the characters, but it is what the story demands and deserves.
I confess, I don't remember the exact details of The Last Unicorn enough to remember if there were carrier bag digressions or not. But it certainly wants to think it's a Hero story.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-30 05:09 am (UTC)