On that note, 'Lobsters' is here and the whole thing will shortly be downloadable from the Accelerando webpage.
I'd make two points. Firstly, I often don't read a book for characters, or at least they're often not what interests me most about a book, so it's not unusual for me to just not write about them. In the case of Accelerando I could have talked about how it's about people's responses to change--embracing it or fearing it or rejecting it etc--and it is. That's just not the most important thing about it to me, on this reading. Which is not to claim that it's a great novel about character, because it's not, but I think it is about an aspect of the human condition, and you might get something out of it on that level even if you don't love all the neato whizzy speculation.
The second thing is that I think it's interesting you mention Aaron Sorkin because to me he's another example of a writer who puts ideas above character. Much as I love Sam and Toby and CJ, the reason I love The West Wing is because of the debates they have, and the ideas they put forward. It's certainly not a character-driven show in the way that, say, Six Feet Under is.
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Date: June 5th, 2005 12:02 am (UTC)From:I'd make two points. Firstly, I often don't read a book for characters, or at least they're often not what interests me most about a book, so it's not unusual for me to just not write about them. In the case of Accelerando I could have talked about how it's about people's responses to change--embracing it or fearing it or rejecting it etc--and it is. That's just not the most important thing about it to me, on this reading. Which is not to claim that it's a great novel about character, because it's not, but I think it is about an aspect of the human condition, and you might get something out of it on that level even if you don't love all the neato whizzy speculation.
The second thing is that I think it's interesting you mention Aaron Sorkin because to me he's another example of a writer who puts ideas above character. Much as I love Sam and Toby and CJ, the reason I love The West Wing is because of the debates they have, and the ideas they put forward. It's certainly not a character-driven show in the way that, say, Six Feet Under is.