I figure with this being an english class, even if it is mostly online forms of literature, it is suitable to write about books. Personally, I am a huge fan of books, can never get enough books to be fully satisfied. Lately though I have started to wonder. Is it possible for every single idea to have been used up? Is there a whirl pool of creativeness and once the creativeness is all used up that is it? In my constant search for new books I sometimes feel that I am only finding improved versions of an old story. Maybe this is because many people's lives have some base similarity to each other's and people tend to write what they know. (And even get criticized if they try to write about something they have not experienced.)
Don't get me wrong, I have my favorite books and favorite authors. Some authors I can read any of their books numerous times and still look forward to the next time I get to read that book. It is almost like a friend, reminding you of the places you have been when you have read the book previously. When almost all the books that I read seem to be similar it is not like a friend, it is more like a long hall of mirrors, where you see the same image reflected over and over, sometimes with a different angle, but always the same subject.
I have been worried about losing the written and printed book in the world of technology that we inhibit. I was convinced that I would fight against it with all my will power. I still love the books printed on paper that you can hold in your hand, I just am also starting to appreciate the online forms of literature available to us.
2 comments:
I don't get to do it much, but I love to read. The feeling that you get when you can't tear yourself from a book because you have to find out what's next. I haven't read enough to have stories that I read overlap, but I can see what your saying. While they're are a lot of books out there that are similar, I think that every now and then something truly original comes around, either from a new change of events that has occurred in the world or just someone who is really imaginative. Just like new theories are made from new discoveries. It can just take awhile.
Tingo, I think that this is quite true. I've also wondered if people are only regurgitating plots and changing minute details to make their stories "original". I think it's a problem that some authors often have trouble defeating. If you look at Picoult's writing or Bohjalian's, you can see that many authors continue to use the same ideas.
However, I think if you look at the books that are really popular among our generation ("Twilight" being the easiest example), it's easy to see that some people are still incredibly creative and can devise new plots. Perhaps there's hope for us after all. : )
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