Wednesday, October 07, 2009
A pet peeve of mine...
Revealing that there is a twist in a plot without explaining what it is is still a spoiler! I've been thinking about this a lot, lately.
I was most peeved about this a few years ago, when, due to a complicated and convoluted plot filled with many twists and turns, I had The Prince of Darkness launder books for me from the pits of hell. One of those books was Daniel Handler's The Basic Eight. I had the novel recommended to me, read a brief synopsis, enjoyed the Lemony Snicket books published up to that moment, and decided it would be my kind of book. That was all I needed and wanted to know. When I finally had it in my hands, it was as if I was holding a melting ice cream sandwich, dripping down to my toes, seeping onto the dirty floor, being licked up by rats. I saw this:
Unexpected twist... Well not anymore, shithead. I was astounded that:
1)The writer wouldn't see the irony and error of saying unexpected twist in a review which I can only assume is written for people who haven't yet read the book but want to. By saying there's an unexpected twist in the review, people will expect there to be a twist when they read the book.
2)That the idiot who designed the book cover would think it's a bright idea to include that on the back of the book. The sole purpose of blurbs on the backs of books is to convince a reader to an amount of time and attention to their book. A purpose of fictional novels is to entertain the reader. The reader wants to be taken out of his or her world, they want to be taken for a surprise. The twist is a plot device employed almost solely for entertainment and sensationalistic purposes. The more of a surprise the twist is, the more unexpected the twist is, the more of an impact it has.
So, naturally, when I read The Basic Eight, I read through, reluctantly trying to figure out what the twist was. I think I figured out what it was about halfway through. It didn't completely ruin the experience. It meshed well with the style of the entire novel. I'm stopping myself from saying too much as I spill my thoughts into this blah, blah, blog, realizing that I am pretty much being a hypocrite. I could have been ambiguous, and not named out The Basic Eight as the novel which includes a "completely dark and unexpected twist". And saying that the twist makes sense due to its relation to the overall style of the novel, could get gears turning as to what the twist is. I don't think this novel is anywhere near as popular as the Snicket books. Anyone who may be reading this, and have an interest in reading the novel his or herself will have had the experience ruined the way it was for me. And to that I say, fuck the world! If I had the experience ruined for me, then everybody else should as well!
See everyone in hell!
