I haven’t done a good rant in awhile, so here we go:
I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand when writers become preachy with their work. It’s one thing when you have a point and you do it subtly, a completely other thing when you bash readers over the head with your personal feelings.
Case in point: I just finished reading Nothing To Lose by Lee Child (well, listening to it, actually, as it’s one of the audio books I’d grabbed from the library to keep me company on my commute to work). I won’t give the whole story away, but basically there are these two towns in Colorado, called Hope and Despair, and Despair (surprise, surprise) is the town where some bad stuff is going on. Anyway, as the book progresses you find that the town is acting as an underground railroad for AWOL soldiers, taking them to safety in Canada. And Jack Reacher — an ex-MP — figures it out but it hesitant to do anything about it. Why? Because, he says, he knows where the soldiers are coming from, watching their fellow brothers die in a war that doesn’t make any sense.
Would he, Reacher, have gone AWOL? the book’s female protagonist asks.
No, Reacher answers, because he doesn’t think he would have been courageous enough.
Okay now, to be clear, an author can do whatever he wants with his characters. It’s best to have the characters act on their own, of course, doing what makes sense, but hey, if the author wants to have them start tap-dancing even though there’s no way they’d know how to tap-dance, more power to them.
I’ve only read a few Reacher books, and for the most part I like them. They’re entertaining beach reads, which is all they’re meant to be. They pass the time. The only book I’ve really liked so far was The Hard Way. And don’t get me wrong — I like Lee Child, so this has nothing to do with him. I would be doing this rant for any other writer.
Why?
For the same reason I get pissed off by movie stars shoving their political opinions down our throats. I don’t care how many Oscars you’ve won, how many of your movies became blockbuster successes — off-screen, I don’t give a shit what you think or say, and those people who do follow you word for word are nothing more than sheep.
Anyway, I’m getting off track, so here’s the deal:
Authors should not speak their own personal viewpoints through their characters.
I don’t see Jack Reacher actually believing that it takes courage to go AWOL. not an ex-MP like him who usually sees the world in black and white. For starters, it’s not like there was a draft and these soldiers were forced over into the war. They knew what they were getting into when they signed up. And this has nothing to do with whether or not you agree with the war but rather whether you feel soldiers should be considered heroes for running away and hiding.
Obviously Lee Child does, and so he forced Jack Reacher to say the same.
Personally, the preachiness took me out of the story a bit. While I was enjoying it before — would have given it three stars on Goodreads — his mini-sermon forced me to give it two stars.
Every once in awhile I’ll read a book and see the same thing. Dean Koontz seems to do this all the time with his social commentaries, and yes, they are annoying. He could do them subtler but no, he needs to bash the readers over the head because, apparently, we readers are morons.
On the other hand, some writers do manage to get their point across without being preachy.
And then you have other writers who just write a damned good book and don’t try to persuade us one way or another. All they do is try to entertain us, which, if I’m not mistaken, is the whole stupid point anyway.
So now I ask you — what are some books or movies that turned you off because they were too preachy?
You’re right and I applaud your rant. There’s nothing worse than skipping happily through a novel and being extracted from the story for a few pages to try and soak up the author’s point.
It can be done so well and so easily without the train wreck.
I think my tolerance may be higher than yours. I’m a big fan of Dean Koontz and not because I agree with his preaching. I think he and I are polar opposites when it comes to how we view the world. But because I love his story-telling so much I’m a big supporter of Camp Koontz. (Or is that Kamp Koontz?)
Great post. Keep ‘em coming!
I didn’t mean it to come across that I can’t stand Koontz. I happen to like him too, though lately his stories and characters all seem to run together. But when he’s on, he’s on, and creates some of the best suspense I’ve ever read. And when he gets into all that preaching stuff, I just roll my eyes and skim on. I’ve come to expect it, actually.
Bill Waterson with Calvin and Hobbes. He knew it was getting a little preachy, though, and retired. Have to respect that. I love Calvin, but toward the end of the strip, he was becoming a little too introspective about his place in the universe.
You’re sort off right about authors being annoyingly preachy, personally if an author does sufficient research then the preachyness is understandable and interesting. People like Hubert Selby Jr., Gregory Benford, and George Orwell are all preach mofos, but they are done with such intelligence. Yes I do think Selby’s books are intelligent.
You’re wrong about celebrities voicing their opinion though. If you have the power to share your views with millions of people then do it, don’t be a stupid celebrate who can’t think for themselves. I’ve never heard Paris Hilton’s views on Iraq or terrorism.
I’m guessing that Sean Penn is a pain to you, but really when he preaches his liberal thoughts and feelings I get warm inside.
Just on another tact re same book. Felt the whole thing was way over the top. The opening intrigued me; felt very Stephen King-y (me as a fan of Deperation and the Regulators), but this it all seemed very contrived to me. By the time I got to the little AWOL speech–which I didn’t buy–I was pretty much dismissive of the whole thing. Like Reacher’s presence, the books are a ride, this one just didn’t hang together for me. I may have given it three stars though…since I find the whole star thing confusing.
@ Jonny – I happen to like Sean Penn very much, actually. I think he’s a great actor. I don’t really consider myself a conservative or liberal, so what he says (or what other celebrities say) doesn’t really bother me as much as the fact that he thinks people should care what he says. If that makes sense. I mean, it’s one thing to hear his and others’ opinion, another for those celebrities to think we should follow them word-for-word, which I think (sadly) most of them do. And you may never have heard Paris Hilton’s views on Iraq or terrorism, but I’m sure they’re out there somewhere, and they’re a trip.
@ Gay – I’m with you on the book. Way over the top, even more than usual. The scene where the riot crowd won’t let them enter the town was a bit much, too. But again, beach read.
Oh, Ayn Rand and her Fountainhead. Philosophy tract wrapped in fiction. Still, I loved it. But might not have had my politics been different when I read as a younger person. I hate to say it, but sometimes Fahrenheit 451 comes off a little preachy, as do the later DUNE books… Peace, Linda
The only Ayn Rand I’ve read was Anthem. My wife has been dying to read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I’ve been putting off buying them for her