Today, I have a consultation call with David Sterry and Arielle Eckstut, The Book Doctors. I will pitch my fiction manuscript, Box of Dreams, to them. As I mentioned in a previous posting, I attended their "Pitchapalooza" event last month. It was a great opportunity to hear other writers pitch their manuscripts to an expert panel.
In the meantime, the non-fiction project has been slightly delayed by the blizzard. Four hours shoveling snow and a house full of wives, kids, puppies, cats and fish are not ideal conditions for writing. Just kidding. I only had one wife, one kid, one puppy and one cat at home yesterday, though it seemed like I had more at times.
I was able to finally finish reading "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. I can strike that one off my list of classics to read before I croak. I think I've now read about half of a list of 100 greatest novels of all time, depending on the list.
I realize perhaps for the first time that even classic novels are not perfect. It's a bit subjective, but it's possible to find flaws. However, classic novels are highly regarded for a variety of attributes that one may possess over the other. The reader can accept the strengths without regard for the weaknesses.
Lawrence Block talks about "suspension of disbelief" in his book entitled "Telling Lies for Fun and Profit". This is the ability of a writer to develop characters, plot and setting that are plausible for the reader. Stated differently, the reader may relate to these elements very easily. Fiction is inherently flawed by the establishment of characters, events and setting that are often far beyond the boundaries of reality. They are creations that the reader will either accept or reject. Therefore, the art of writing fiction is the ability to suspend disbelief so perfection in fiction, like reality, is not possible. The ability to convince the reader becomes a measure of the writer's ability to create plausible characters.
Bram Stoker does this with Dracula. But, I was surprised at some of the underlying themes. Somehow, in my mind, the vampire stereotype was applied to Stoker's Dracula. I never saw him as a creature to be pitied, yet Stoker does present him as a victim. It is also a love story with erotic undertones. I was most surprised at the underlying Christian theme in the story. It is a classic story of good versus evil that passes through a variety of contemporary genres.
Having participated in a writer's group for over a year, I can appreciate the value of reading a story with a critical eye. Nonetheless, I will not allow my attention to detail alter my perspective as a casual reader. That is, I will continue to enjoy a story despite the inevitable flaws that exist in any work of fiction. I enjoyed "Dracula" very much, but I can set aside the critical analysis of the work with the understanding that all fiction has strengths and weaknesses.
So, what was wrong with it? Actually, nothing is WRONG with it. It is a compelling story in which I was able to suspend disbelief. That is, I was able to visualize and relate to characters that are....at least for most of us....nonexistent. BUT, I would say that the story is relatively flat at points. The reason? In some parts, the story offers vivid images with stunning character developments while other parts are repetitive with very little action. In other words, I began to expect the same level of intensity throughout the story. The story was slightly unbalanced in this regard. The end of the story again becomes highly compressed with action and intensity, but the final events end a little too quickly for me. It seemed that Stoker was a little rushed at the end of his story.
These are minor weaknesses for a story written in the 1800's. Sadly, today's writer must maintain a level of interest among readers who are overstimulated and attention deficit. Today's reader expects consistency and highly compressed information from a novel. Nonetheless, "Dracula" belongs in the Top 100 Novels of All Times for its originality and images that continue to inspire a variety of similar stories with similar characters.
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