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Thread: Confessions of a Plot Junkie

  1. #76
    running amok Sancho's Avatar
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    Step IV

    Step 4 Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

    Quote Originally Posted by Annamariah View Post
    I blame the public libraries! I would never stoop so low as to buy those books myself, but when I can get them for free...
    Is it really the library's fault, Annamariah? Look deep into your soul. That is where you'll find your inner Plot Junkie. We must be fearless when we confront our addiction. We must slay the beast.

    Well, part of me thinks that. The other part part thinks, awe c'mon, Sanch', one li'l ole action-adventure book can't hurt you. Is that my inner Plot Junkie speaking? Or is that my nature? Maybe that's everybody's nature, our Yin and Yang clutched in a death struggle with each other. Could this be the duality of man?

    So, I'm off to the library. Maybe I'll get with the program and go to the classics section, or maybe I'll head for the popular fiction selves. Who knows? Not me. ambient-woolf? We could use your help here.
    Uhhhh...

  2. #77
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    Quote Originally Posted by ambient_woolf View Post
    A heavy reliance on plot is the reason most genre fiction bores me. To me, books from Grisham/King/etc read like outlines where the author forgot to include any characterization or flair. The "heavy handedness" and more insightful nature of so-called real literature is not stuffy to me: it's exciting; it's what makes art interesting and fun.
    Yes, although I'd say that 'heavy-handed' is a description that better fits genre fiction, with its oft-repeated archetypes and over-used and cheap plot twists.

  3. #78
    All are at the crossroads qimissung's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Annamariah View Post
    Help me! I must confess I fell off the wagon I just read two more books of a really badly written young adult series (I mean the language and the style is so bad and annoying it makes me cringe), simply because I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! If even really bad writing isn't enough to keep me off those dangerous books, what hope do I have? What should I do now?
    lol. I have to admit that I was unable to continue reading the Twilight series after the first two books due to the rather leaden writing.

    I actually enjoyed the first one. While it wasn't very well written, the story was compelling (i.e. Edward +Bella) enough for me to finish it.

    On the other hand, in between some decent literature I have been reading books from the Stephanie Plum mystery series to get me through these dark and cold winter days. Talk about heavy-handed writing.
    "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its' own reason for existing." ~ Albert Einstein
    "Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Bonzai
    "Some people say I done alright for a girl." Melanie Safka

  4. #79
    Registered User Calidore's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by qimissung View Post
    On the other hand, in between some decent literature I have been reading books from the Stephanie Plum mystery series to get me through these dark and cold winter days. Talk about heavy-handed writing.
    I liked the first couple of Plum novels a great deal, but then Evanovich seemed to either lose interest or confidence and started resorting to gimmicks like novel-ending cliffhangers to keep people coming back, while the books themselves became more forced and less fun.
    You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi

  5. #80
    All are at the crossroads qimissung's Avatar
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    Well, she's churned out about twenty of them. That might have something to do with it.
    "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its' own reason for existing." ~ Albert Einstein
    "Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Bonzai
    "Some people say I done alright for a girl." Melanie Safka

  6. #81
    Clinging to Douvres rocks Gilliatt Gurgle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sancho View Post
    Step 4 Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.


    Well, part of me thinks that. The other part part thinks, awe c'mon, Sanch', one li'l ole action-adventure book can't hurt you. Is that my inner Plot Junkie speaking? Or is that my nature? Maybe that's everybody's nature, our Yin and Yang clutched in a death struggle with each other. Could this be the duality of man?...
    Step IV begins to stir the yellow bile quadrant of our humors, we seek out the less complex slice of our ethos, where "blondes have more fun". It's ok to reach for the Flemming, the Asimov, perhaps Gentle Ben. Heck, there's been times my bile still leads me to the good doctor, no not Hippocrates, I'm talking about Seuss of course.
    "Mongo only pawn in game of life" - Mongo

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKRma7PDW10

  7. #82
    running amok Sancho's Avatar
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    I gotta tell ya, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened to Sam-I-Am.
    Uhhhh...

  8. #83
    All are at the crossroads qimissung's Avatar
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    While I really was not so interested in the outcome as the journey-the rhyming which roller skated along in the most delightful fashion, and the ever insouciant Sam-I-Am. I was actually a teeny bit disappointed to see him go along with the status quo.
    "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its' own reason for existing." ~ Albert Einstein
    "Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Bonzai
    "Some people say I done alright for a girl." Melanie Safka

  9. #84
    Wandering Child Annamariah's Avatar
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    After the last time I reported here, I went to the library and borrowed a novel by Nabokov. I also got the next part of that awful series, though... Do they cancel out each other? I did finish the novel about Pakistan too, does that help?
    Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing. Her hair was golden as the sun's rays and her soul as clear and blue as her eyes.
    Gaston Leroux - The Phantom of the Opera

  10. #85
    running amok Sancho's Avatar
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    Step 5

    Step 5: Admit to the Litnet, to ourselves, and to another Litnutter the exact nature of our wrongs
    Well done, Annamariah, I think they do cancel each other out. But what do I know? I'm a recidivist Plot Junkie myself. Oh yes, and welcome back. How have you been? We've missed you here at PJA (Plot Junkies Anonymous).

    I have another confession to make. I've taken to streaming mysteries on NETFLIX. This can't be a good thing. I can't help but to think it's a setback. It feels like I've fallen off the wagon...again. Curses!

    Most recently I've found myself hooked on the mini-series, Top Of The Lake. It's about a young girl who goes missing and the investigation that ensues. It's filmed in a gorgeous area of New Zealand. As the plot unfolds, it just gets weirder and weirder. I can't wait to see what happens next.
    Uhhhh...

  11. #86
    dark desire dark desire's Avatar
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    Hey Sancho,

    The girl I am dating had a similar thing about literature. I gave her Sanctuary by William Faulkner which is simultaneously a thriller and a stream of consciousness writing. She praised it quite emphatically saying that il that was way way better than the other thriller stuff available out there. I'd like to know if hers was a solitary case or you would agree with her on this.

    A great number of people have addiction to thrillers. It isn't rocket science to understand that. Regular normal life isn't all that exciting anyways! Isn't it?
    Being taken literally, is like being sent to hell LITERALLY.

    “It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”
    ― Oscar Wilde

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    I think a good comparison to this would be films; although many of us are familiar with what we would consider "good" movies (ex. Citizen Kane, Casa Blanca, Schindler's List etc...), there's a reason why there are so many "bad" or "ok" movies that make more money -- and the reasons are: 1) It takes less effort to try and follow a complicated plot than to watch a movie that is easy to understand. 2) Because it makes us happy. Usually really good movies are considered "good" because they portray real life -- which is, most of the time, sad and depressing -- instead of portraying a fictive world in which the good guys always win and very cool and interesting stuff happens to them every second of their lives. 3) Because most of the general public watch movies in order to escape from their normal lives -- to imagine life as something more, something better -- something that it is not.

    This analogy relates to books because when we look at the books that are making the most money (ex. J.K. Rowling, Steven King, James Patterson) they have a lot in common with the highly enjoyable and addicting movies that we as a society are so addicted to. And there's a reason why -- they are MADE to be entertaining and easy and exciting. And although, I admit that I enjoy watching the occasional bad movie, or reading an addicting mystery novel -- I feel a lot better about myself at the end of the day when I know that I put forth the extra effort to read a book in which allows me to gain something in return: enlightenment, erudition, instead of just capitulating to my own, easily satisfied, indulgences.
    Last edited by youngsquire; 03-03-2014 at 04:58 PM.

  13. #88
    All are at the crossroads qimissung's Avatar
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    That's a good analogy, youngsquire. I read somewhere that a lot of fiction aimed at middlebrow readers often contain a lot of cliches. The cliches act as signifiers, making these works easily read and understood. I think the same is true of the tropes used in a lot of action movies and romcoms. And whereas "good" movies use more challenging symbols and metaphors that require more thought to decode.
    "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its' own reason for existing." ~ Albert Einstein
    "Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Bonzai
    "Some people say I done alright for a girl." Melanie Safka

  14. #89
    running amok Sancho's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dark desire View Post
    Hey Sancho,

    The girl I am dating had a similar thing about literature. I gave her Sanctuary by William Faulkner which is simultaneously a thriller and a stream of consciousness writing. She praised it quite emphatically saying that il that was way way better than the other thriller stuff available out there. I'd like to know if hers was a solitary case or you would agree with her on this.

    A great number of people have addiction to thrillers. It isn't rocket science to understand that. Regular normal life isn't all that exciting anyways! Isn't it?
    Hey Dark Desire,

    It seems to me that you are a very good friend to your girl. Everybody in the PJA 12-Step program needs a sponsor. But one thing to be on the lookout for when you sponsor an intimate friend is the possibility that she is projecting her love for you onto the fine work of literature that you have recommend for her. Does she really love the work of William Faulkner for the sake of the work, or does she love it because she is trying to be closer to you? This is a tricky business.

    Oh yes, a very tricky business indeed. You should proceed with caution - Plot Junkies can become wickedly dangerous when cornered and confronted. But you must seek the truth: Is she hiding a cheap dime-store novel deep in the bottom of her shoulder bag? Have you checked for a romance novel on the bookshelf behind The Complete Works of William Shakespeare? Has she ever told you that she was going to the library to study the classics, but then returned late-late at night, her clothing rumpled, her hair disheveled, her fingers stained with cheap news print, and her speech peppered with not-so-clever cliches?

    Be very careful, my friend. Be very-very careful.


    I have another confession to make: one of my favorite novels of all time is William Faulkner's Light in August.

    All the way from Alabama a-walking. A fur piece.
    It's been a while since I last read it, but I still vividly remember parts. I'll read it again someday. And I'll find things I didn't notice in earlier readings. It'll mean things to me that it didn't when I was a younger man. I'm looking forward to it. By the way, there are cheap thrillers I've read last month that I can barely remember anything about today. Go figure.
    Uhhhh...

  15. #90
    Wandering Child Annamariah's Avatar
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    When I go to library, I try to balance things out by borrowing more serious books in addition to the silly ones. For each one that I'm truly ashamed of I try to read one that people might actually talk about in civilized company. (Other than saying how horrible it is, of course.) At the moment I'm reading an Italian novel called New Finnish Grammar. I picked it up because the title caught my attention. It is always interesting to see how foreigners write about Finland. The book is quite different from what I usually read, so I guess it's some healthy variation and keeps me on my path to recovery.

    I do have some great page-turners from the library just waiting to be read, though. I will just finish the Italian one first and then I'll reward myself with one of those...
    Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing. Her hair was golden as the sun's rays and her soul as clear and blue as her eyes.
    Gaston Leroux - The Phantom of the Opera

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