tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544416621891146956.post6304154936957970727..comments2021-08-02T19:02:28.352+08:00Comments on Rosanne Dingli's Blog: Guest blogger - Brian KavanaghRosanne Dinglihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18297891545294681562noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544416621891146956.post-66507376371369016312011-06-17T18:19:47.618+08:002011-06-17T18:19:47.618+08:00Margaret, thanks. I wasn't worried because I a...Margaret, thanks. I wasn't worried because I agree with you. I just found it fascinating that the reviewer reacted so badly to perceived bad behaviour of a fictional character. On the down side, I checked back on her website and it seems that quite a few responses indicate that they will take her word for it and won't bother to buy the book. Time for the wax doll and needles I think. :-)Brianhttp://beekayvic.tripod.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544416621891146956.post-50904809420901471562011-06-17T11:29:24.145+08:002011-06-17T11:29:24.145+08:00Anybody can call themselves a reviewer, Brian. Unl...Anybody can call themselves a reviewer, Brian. Unless your review was in the Times Literary Supplement or the New Yorker, I wouldn't worry! I think we are all complex and contradictory, and showing more than one side of a character adds to depth. Margaret SutherlandAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544416621891146956.post-2891165243842874172011-06-17T11:20:53.172+08:002011-06-17T11:20:53.172+08:00What an interesting 'shoot the messenger' ...What an interesting 'shoot the messenger' slant. Non-fiction commentators, journalists, pundits... they are sitting ducks for the public to hang their opinions on. Writing about politics, to take one example, might pin a leaning in some readers' minds, even if it is a mere comment the writer makes, and not a declaration of personal choice. Or writing a biography, perhaps, might say to some readers that the biographer condones the subject's life and antics.Rosanne Dinglihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297891545294681562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544416621891146956.post-70285053005799767732011-06-17T10:50:00.200+08:002011-06-17T10:50:00.200+08:00I concur. I would even say a similar phenomenon ca...I concur. I would even say a similar phenomenon can be observed in the reception of some of my non-fiction articles. When I present a detailed exposition of how I view an aspect of life some readers comment with interest and even approval. Others may be quite caustic, condemning me personally for having characteristics they infer from my writing -- even when I don't in fact possess them. In this context I, the writer, am similar to a fictional character and am seen in different ways by different readers. It makes the writing life very interesting!Stephen Crabbenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544416621891146956.post-43469358926329671522011-06-17T08:58:15.732+08:002011-06-17T08:58:15.732+08:00Yes - I am familiar with your theory from reading ...Yes - I am familiar with your theory from reading your work elsewhere, Brian - and it is true. Perhaps even more true for novels, where the reader does all their own mental imaging. The stories and characters we conceive are seen differently by each individual reader, and the effect of that is something impossible to predict or gauge. Reviewers are, after all, simply readers who choose to make their opinion public.Rosanne Dinglihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297891545294681562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544416621891146956.post-44438146670818690402011-06-17T07:37:11.875+08:002011-06-17T07:37:11.875+08:00Yes,Magdalena. Well said. It brings to mind my bel...Yes,Magdalena. Well said. It brings to mind my belief drawn from my years making films, that a script writer is the only person who ever really sees the film as he/she wrote it. Each viewer will see their own version, albeit after filtering through the filmmaking process.Brian Kavanaghhttp://beekayvic.tripod.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544416621891146956.post-62548390706226773512011-06-17T06:29:46.499+08:002011-06-17T06:29:46.499+08:00This is an interesting post, Brian, and brings to ...This is an interesting post, Brian, and brings to light that tenuous relationship between fiction and 'reality'. Of course fiction is about deeper truths and character flaws are inherent in the process. It sometimes hurts, as an author, to put characters through their inevitable trials by fire, but that's what good fiction is all about, and working through flaws and misfortune is part of that. I do think that sometimes readers (bless them - at least their reading - better to criticise than to ignore I think!) read fiction with too much of an eye on whether this 'happened' or what it's conveying about the characters rather than looking for the deeper meaning.Magdalena Ballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00182314078304734996noreply@blogger.com