Brian Crick

Category: Storytelling

Hitchhiker’s, Part 2: Chaos

I’m going to have to talk about reading-the-process and reading-this-book together this time, since I was a bit lost.

As before, spoilers ahead.

* * *

So… they actually have a cataclysmic, it-came-from-outer-space world destruction thing going on here. I really wasn’t sure that was going to happen.

And it’s all, omg omg drink this muscle-relaxant! There’s some random drunkard! There’s some random girlfriend, though I don’t know if she’s the girlfriend of previous random drunkard, but it doesn’t matter, because there are things in space! There are random people on the ground looking at the things in space! And there’s… a towel? A whole page about the importance of towels and earlier, a bit about why this-galactic-travel-guide is better than that-galactic-encyclopedia?

I had a bit of trouble following all that.

But maybe that’s ok, because the world is blowing up and if the author’s intent is to convey that chaos by giving me information overload, then he certainly succeeded. So while I’m a little stressy about not being up to the task of processing all that, I’m not too worried about it.

My favorite lines:

“Energize the demolition beams.”

Light poured out into the hatchways.

”I don’t know,” said the voice on the PA, ”apathetic bloody planet, I’ve no sympathy at all.” It cut off.

There was a terrible ghastly silence.
There was a terrible ghastly noise.
There was a terrible ghastly silence.

The Vogon Constructor fleet coasted away into the inky starry void. 

Perhaps not surprisingly, I love writing that consciously uses repetition and rhythm to convey ideas — writing that, while made of words of course, is meant to be read in a way that is not strictly about verbal comprehension.

In addition to seeing the world destroyed, Ive met Zaphod Beeblebrox, been introduced to the Heart of Gold, and got a bit about fish who translate things. It’s all stuff that seems vaguely familiar, but that vague familiarity with some of these names and concepts somehow manages to be not at all distracting. It’s like… you’re watching a Clint Eastwood movie, and you know full well what kinds of characters Clint Eastwood is wont to play, but that doesn’t mean you know what he’s going to do, right here, in this particular movie.

Looking forward to hearing what the Vogons have to say in the next chapter.

Isolating Werewolves

My wife, brother and I have been watching both the UK and US versions of Being Human, shows about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost sharing an apartment, just trying to lead normal lives. I love comparing the two shows, though I’m not interested so much in the US/UK cultural differences… and while it’s interesting that, stylistically, the two shows are very different, I’m not that interested in analyzing that, either.

Which I find fascinating about this is when the shows are almost exactly the same — but not quite.

For example, we recently watched episodes where, in both versions of the show:

  1. Werewolf #1 befriends a fellow, more experienced Werewolf #2, who tries to teach him how to manage this whole werewolf thing.
  2. Werewolf #1 is insulted by a Nurse in the hospital where he works.
  3. Werewolves #1 and #2 go to a bar, and Werewolf #2 shows Werewolf #1 how he can use his magic powers of werewolfishness to get a date with the waitress.
  4.  Werewolf #1 bumps into Nurse again. She tries to apologize, and Werewolf #1 makes an embarrasingly awful attempt to seduce her, which completely fails.

There are some major changes in the feel of plot point #3 in the US and UK versions; the former has Werewolf #2 coming off totally creepy, and the latter’s werewolf comes off more believably attractive. But I was most intrigued by plot point #4.

The only real difference between versions is the presence of Werewolf #2 in the scene. In the UK version, he’s there with Werewolf #1 and Nurse, goading Werewolf #1 on through a seduction attempt that Werewolf #1 doesn’t really want to commit to. Werewolf #2 doesn’t say much at all; his mere presence is causing some peer pressure.

In the US version, Werewolf #2 isn’t in this scene at all. Werewolf #1 takes it upon himself to try out the magical seduction thing on Nurse, and it completely changes the dynamic of the scene. We see Werewolf #1’s actions as bad handling of his relationship with Nurse, instead of seeing it in terms of  trying to impress his new werewolf mentor. We see how Werewolf #1 is already starting to internalize Werewolf #2’s teachings, instead of getting dragged through his education.

I like how in the US version, Werewolf #1 owns his own failure. I think it made his story more interesting.

It’s a small difference, but it changes a lot. And that’s why I like watching both versions of this show simultaneously. It’s like you’re getting to isolate your variables in a controlled experiment, and you’re going to learn the most from such experiments when the isolation is clean. It’s a great way to learn about writing.

Copyright © 2017 Brian Crick.