tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post6759768430427985421..comments2024-03-29T07:00:46.755-04:00Comments on Patricia Abbott (pattinase): Illness and the Modern Novelpattinase (abbott)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-66375808905199346432012-03-22T08:09:13.584-04:002012-03-22T08:09:13.584-04:00Nicely put, Deb. I am reading Robotham just now wh...Nicely put, Deb. I am reading Robotham just now where the main character has Parkinson's. In some ways I prefer it to alcoholism but in other ways not.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-31655802009358516032012-03-22T07:12:35.282-04:002012-03-22T07:12:35.282-04:00If, as Susan Sontag claimed in the 1970s, illness ...If, as Susan Sontag claimed in the 1970s, illness is a metaphor, then perhaps all the illnesses and various disabling conditions we find in our current reading material is a sign of a reflection of a culture that believes itself to be sick in some way.<br /><br />There. I've made my pseudo-intellectual argument for the day!<br /><br />Frankly, unless the illness or condition is integral to the plot (like the cancer in THE FAULT IN OUR STARS or autism in THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT), too much emphasis on an illness in a work of fiction is a bit of a turn-off for me. Probably because I'm getting older, have my own health issues, and prefer my reading material to take me away from all that, rather than rub my nose in it.Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-25048509708887183162012-03-21T19:18:34.244-04:002012-03-21T19:18:34.244-04:00Illness has been a taboo subject in the past. It&#...Illness has been a taboo subject in the past. It's also something we fear. Perfect material for fiction.Ron Scheerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-14712172791391966772012-03-21T16:54:46.805-04:002012-03-21T16:54:46.805-04:00Missing girls and porn rings are pretty grim as we...Missing girls and porn rings are pretty grim as well.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-10708951084504023182012-03-21T15:53:51.634-04:002012-03-21T15:53:51.634-04:00I hadn't thought about it, Patti, but you'...I hadn't thought about it, Patti, but you're right. There are a lot of crime novels now where one of the main characters - sometimes the sleuth - has some sort of major ailment, including mental illness. My guess? As we learn more about these things, authors explore them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-91145502642914567022012-03-21T14:33:23.707-04:002012-03-21T14:33:23.707-04:00No, I don't care to read that, if I want to be...No, I don't care to read that, if I want to be entertained, it's not by grim reality. Not for me, anyway. I think many authors do it because it's so easy to, as PK says, add character depth that way. It doesn't seem to be enough anymore, at least for authors or perhaps their editors, to have the character to simply be challenged by the circumstances of the plot. say finding a missing girl and ending up busting a porn ring.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-74139592795969825152012-03-21T11:18:01.714-04:002012-03-21T11:18:01.714-04:00I think I reached my max for this year already.I think I reached my max for this year already.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-10041083146607043952012-03-21T10:56:30.826-04:002012-03-21T10:56:30.826-04:00But how much of that do we want to read?
Jeff M.But how much of that do we want to read?<br /><br />Jeff M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-44304246926674156452012-03-21T09:50:27.621-04:002012-03-21T09:50:27.621-04:00The new noir: hospice noir.The new noir: hospice noir.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-68641698929895388112012-03-21T09:33:03.445-04:002012-03-21T09:33:03.445-04:00It's also the truth; we're not dying shot ...It's also the truth; we're not dying shot in the streets, our own bodies are betraying us and we're dying old and often alone in a hospice bed.Thomas Pluckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17008022962076648740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-66178021819841380382012-03-21T09:03:14.831-04:002012-03-21T09:03:14.831-04:00No, I don't think it is marketing. I think the...No, I don't think it is marketing. I think these illnesses are very much on our minds. They can also insert some pathos or feeling into a novel. Aging children caring for aged parents is certainly the lot of most of us.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-22005286118849061172012-03-21T08:46:51.985-04:002012-03-21T08:46:51.985-04:00To be fair I do think that writers live in the rea...To be fair I do think that writers live in the real world and have to deal (as do we all) with aging parents, various illnesses (some of which are the results of living longer), etc. so it's not strictly marketing.<br /><br />Jeff M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-32829562788531597532012-03-21T08:38:43.032-04:002012-03-21T08:38:43.032-04:00Thought: Because authors are told that characters ...Thought: Because authors are told that characters have to have depth and something with which to struggle. Alcohol is cliched now so we have this.PK the Bookeemonsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03478996122841311684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-55273885042131037712012-03-21T08:38:32.321-04:002012-03-21T08:38:32.321-04:00Good point. I've noticed that too.
I just re...Good point. I've noticed that too.<br /><br />I just read John Green's very good YA novel about kids with cancer, <b>The Fault in Our Stars</b>, and this morning started Keith Thomson's <b>Twice a Spy</b> (sequel to the very entertaining <b>Once a Spy</b>) in which the central plot point is a character's Alzheimers.<br /><br />I generally try and avoid the nightly news wherever possible.<br /><br />;)<br /><br />Jeff M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-10899206232788107082012-03-21T08:20:27.549-04:002012-03-21T08:20:27.549-04:00As is the nightly news as I swallow my aspirin.As is the nightly news as I swallow my aspirin.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-10896522744772675642012-03-21T08:14:46.195-04:002012-03-21T08:14:46.195-04:00Cancer seems to be part of too much contemporary f...Cancer seems to be part of too much contemporary fiction today. As you point out, part of this is an appeal to an older, sicker reading public that's obsessed with health.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.com