Yes - I tried to get through "The Snowstorm" for years before I finally forced myself as I was writing the Russian book. But that's the thing, for me: what makes it so hard to keep going? If we could understand and internalize that (!!)...
Yes - I tried to get through "The Snowstorm" for years before I finally forced myself as I was writing the Russian book. But that's the thing, for me: what makes it so hard to keep going? If we could understand and internalize that (!!)...
I wonder if it's partly because in The Snowstorm, there's no stated organizing principle (or if there is, I missed it). In Master and Man we know they're going out to buy that land. In The Snowstorm, I have no idea what they're doing out on the road. But as a fellow human being I don't want them freezing, so that's interesting, at first. But then it kind of meanders and stuff is recounted that doesn't seem super related to how to get out of their dangerous situation. So maybe it's a causation tightening issue. Will read again and keep thinking about this.
It's odd because getting lost in a snowstorm should be enough of a hook to carry a story. Even if I don't know why they're on the road, it's an easy enough thing to accept. I'm remembering two stories where a similar event was enough, more than enough.
First, To Build A Fire by Jack London. I read it in fifth grade, and I think it's still assigned reading for middle grade kids. That story was so harrowing that reading its Wikipedia page just now (to make sure I was remembering it right) brought back doomsday type feelings. Apparently there are two versions, I read the version with the dog. I'm just connecting this now but there are definite similarities between the guy in To Build A Fire and Vasily in Master and Man. And come to think of it, between the dog and Nikita. Anyway, I think what To Build A Fire and Master And Man have that The Snowstorm lacks is the main character trying something, or resisting trying something, and then a plausible result from that action/inaction. The Snowstorm had some of that--for example, them deciding to go on when they get passed by the courier sledge--maybe it just needed more. And maybe it needed to be clearer what their options were, and the corresponding consequences.
The second story I'm remembering is a true story, of six 9/11 survivors who were stuck in an elevator in one of the towers, and how they managed to all get out. My best friend and I were watching TV on maybe the first or second anniversary of 9/11, and the six survivors were telling their story. When they were going over how they got out, what exactly they did, the lucky breaks and the setbacks, my best friend and I were riveted. It wasn't until the end that we started crying, I think at the enormity of it all. Anyway, bringing this back to fiction, truth has a huge advantage fiction doesn't, but is also hampered in a way fiction isn't. I need to think more about this.
I think this is right. In Master and Man we're given the opportunity to get to know the characters before they find themselves in the snowstorm. And that somehow serves to amplify the dramatic tension which the snowstorm generates. It matters that the characters who're trapped in the storm are characters we're already invested in.
Yes - I tried to get through "The Snowstorm" for years before I finally forced myself as I was writing the Russian book. But that's the thing, for me: what makes it so hard to keep going? If we could understand and internalize that (!!)...
I wonder if it's partly because in The Snowstorm, there's no stated organizing principle (or if there is, I missed it). In Master and Man we know they're going out to buy that land. In The Snowstorm, I have no idea what they're doing out on the road. But as a fellow human being I don't want them freezing, so that's interesting, at first. But then it kind of meanders and stuff is recounted that doesn't seem super related to how to get out of their dangerous situation. So maybe it's a causation tightening issue. Will read again and keep thinking about this.
That's a great insight. In M&M we know the ostensible purpose of the trip and, soon enough, the story.
It's odd because getting lost in a snowstorm should be enough of a hook to carry a story. Even if I don't know why they're on the road, it's an easy enough thing to accept. I'm remembering two stories where a similar event was enough, more than enough.
First, To Build A Fire by Jack London. I read it in fifth grade, and I think it's still assigned reading for middle grade kids. That story was so harrowing that reading its Wikipedia page just now (to make sure I was remembering it right) brought back doomsday type feelings. Apparently there are two versions, I read the version with the dog. I'm just connecting this now but there are definite similarities between the guy in To Build A Fire and Vasily in Master and Man. And come to think of it, between the dog and Nikita. Anyway, I think what To Build A Fire and Master And Man have that The Snowstorm lacks is the main character trying something, or resisting trying something, and then a plausible result from that action/inaction. The Snowstorm had some of that--for example, them deciding to go on when they get passed by the courier sledge--maybe it just needed more. And maybe it needed to be clearer what their options were, and the corresponding consequences.
The second story I'm remembering is a true story, of six 9/11 survivors who were stuck in an elevator in one of the towers, and how they managed to all get out. My best friend and I were watching TV on maybe the first or second anniversary of 9/11, and the six survivors were telling their story. When they were going over how they got out, what exactly they did, the lucky breaks and the setbacks, my best friend and I were riveted. It wasn't until the end that we started crying, I think at the enormity of it all. Anyway, bringing this back to fiction, truth has a huge advantage fiction doesn't, but is also hampered in a way fiction isn't. I need to think more about this.
I think this is right. In Master and Man we're given the opportunity to get to know the characters before they find themselves in the snowstorm. And that somehow serves to amplify the dramatic tension which the snowstorm generates. It matters that the characters who're trapped in the storm are characters we're already invested in.
Yes, adding the details about their lives before the trip added tension...and gave us more feelings towards them, more concern.