Historical fiction can be a refuge for people exhausted by modern problems or fearful for the future. A panacea for all today’s ills. Nobody is more reassuring than the hero of a historical fiction novel – the man who has the answers to everything whilst somehow also understanding the consequences of his actions.
But what would it be like to live with a historical fiction hero? Would it make life simpler? Or might dead pigeons and his fear of toasters make it a generation gap too far?
Literary Fiction heroes inhabit a world of such beauty and introspection, that to know them would be to feel a deeper connection to the universe. Right?
Perhaps this idea warrants a little further exploration. Might living with one of the protagonists of your favourite literary fiction novels inspire you to a better understanding of humanity? Or might it inspire you to want to kick their arse?
3 Writers enter Mr McGuffin’s Plot Device and Writer Unblocking Emporium in dire need of help. Will Mr McGuffin be able to save the tragic lovers of the romance novelist? What’s in the bloodstained suitcase? Just what is going on with the world’s most mysterious dog? And how long can one pun be stretched out over an entire blog post? Click the bait to find out.
Ah, young adult fiction. So much potential, so small a world. It’s almost like they’re fully-grown adults, but in a slightly younger suit. Life would be so much more in context if we were to live with the protagonist of one of our favourite young adult novels. Or would it?
Dublin’s favourite arseholes consider what it means to be Irish, and how that might work to their financial gain. Don’t tell the European Union.
You love the cops in crime novels. So careworn, and yet mysterious. They have money, and yet never spend it on themselves. Granted, being married to one is just asking for trouble. But you could just share a house with one, right? That would be exciting, and spice up your humdrum existence no end!
Let’s take a look, and see if you might want to think this through a little more…
Three Narrative Points of View attend their regular Writer’s Group meeting in a licensed premises, and proceed to have an argument. If you think that sounds like a very contrived joke, you’d be right. The punchline, however, is what you might least expect.
Where did pieces of glorious human creativity go, before the internet? Where were the cat pictures, the listicles and the punny prose, before they appeared on our Facebook news feeds? The internet has had a lot to do with the way we consume our entertainment – but it’s done even more for how we produce it.
Ever had a difficult flatmate? Perhaps you’ve wished that instead of a detergent-deprived insomniac, a tone-deaf reptile enthusiast or a fiscally challenged Snoremaster, you lived with the hilarious heroine from one of your favourite novels. That would be so much better! Much more fun!
Or would it?
Being a book reviewer is a tough gig, which is why I’m glad don’t do reviews on this blog. But because I spend so much time shouting and roaring all over the interweb about booky stuff, people often ask me for recommendations. It never ends well. Once it ended up in tears, recriminations, and a mud-wrestling pit. Who knew bookish types were so volatile? Well, actual book reviewers, for a start. And they’ve known for a while.
Tara Sparling writes 