“As I continued to read the book I grew to like him more and more!! ”says Yvonne Lee about Senka in her review on Amazon
Excerpt:
“Are you going to go see what’s left?” she
asked.
“We could if you like. The patrol hasn’t passed
in over an hour. Askil’s had a hard-on for us for a while. Eventually he’ll
realize we aren’t among the dead and likely send a party looking for us
anyway.”
Muhjah offered her a hand. She took it and
allowed him to pull her to a standing position. She could feel his solid
strength as though he pulled it from the very stones beneath him. It surprised
her. But how could he be anything other
than strong? She wanted to rail against his solid frame like an angry man
might a wall to avoid hitting his wife. She wished he were a cold and unfeeling
inanimate object instead of the callous and detached human he was. She didn’t want
to understand what they had done.
They made little effort to hide as they crossed
the river. Chiyo indicated the direction Emiko had gone, and the men followed.
The glen they came to was small. There were flowers sneaking up among the
grasses, and the trees were just starting to shed their leaves, rustling
underfoot but still blocking the sky from view. It would have been a beautiful
meadow.
The grass was stained red. It was drying,
becoming black with the coming darkness. The ground below was soft despite the
lack of rain. The stench was unbearable, worse perhaps because it was from the
blood, gut, and gore of those she had known, if only briefly. The bodies were
gone, but there was evidence enough of what had occurred. Chiyo noted a
discarded hand, gray and lifeless. It was missing two fingers, lost perhaps in
a futile attempt to ward off the coming blow.
She sank to her knees. She could feel the cold
wetness soaking through her pants. Shouldn’t
it be warm? she thought. She gagged. She wanted to wretch but found that
she couldn’t muster the strength.
Chiyo felt Senka and Muhjah watching her
reaction closely and somehow wondered if it would affect her immediate future.
She looked at the grass in front of her sway. The earth doesn’t seem to know that a tragedy has just occurred here, Chiyo
thought. It might even consider the
recent events nourishing. And the cycle continues, regardless of the manner.
“Why did they take all of the bodies?” she
asked.
Muhjah shrugged, disinterested.
“Display most likely, as examples to others of
what happens when you defy the nyim.”
“Everyone seemed to know that working as a
conscript was tantamount to death anyway. So what difference does it make?”
“But no one sees those dead, so hope remains.
There’s a big difference. Terror has to be seen to be effective.”
Guest Post: In Defense of Gore
A scene of graphic violence can
be difficult to read. There are some who understandably choose to avoid them
for just that reason. But like so many other things in life and literature they
have a legitimate place. It serves as a natural antidote to the sanitizing
effect of the written word.
Here is an example: A
number of years ago I had a conversation with my aunt in which she regaled me
with a detailed account of reading the grizzly description of the sound of
breaking fingers in Robert Ludlum’s Borne Identity. By way of this post her visceral response to that
scene reaches to us today, even though at the time of the discussion it had
been some time since she’d read the scene, has been several years since we had
the conversation and I still haven’t read the book. A simple “he broke the
man’s fingers” would not have put her in the moment as strongly and would never
have made the same impression on her or me. But there is also a more
fundamental reason for the gore’s inclusion.
Should the blood and such be
censored then there is nothing left to evoke the readers’ feelings of disgust,
fear or loathing. These are important. These are what remind readers that even
if the book is fictional, fractured bones, torn flesh, and broken bodies are a
reality. These are what remind normal readers (because there will always be the
exception who revels in violent depictions rather than be revolted by them) not
to take too lightly the death throws of your
characters.
For centuries people have been
worrying about whether exposure to violent media can cause individuals to
behave violently in real life or even simply become desensitized to it. While I
don’t expect to come to a conclusion that has escaped the grasp of far better social
scientists than myself, I do think that realistic depiction of violence is
important to reduce the likelihood of glamorization, or rather glorification.
Now, I’m not at all
saying that the death or disfigurement of a character in every book should be
accompanied by a detailed account of the biological accoutrements of their
demise. Obviously, one doesn’t
need to “hear” the death rattle of those who
pass quietly into the night. Children’s books should probably go light on the
death in general, and it’s fair to assume a minimal amount of accuracy is
acceptable. But is it really OK to present a gunfight, for example, and pretend
that flying projectiles don’t have the potential to produce a virtual Rorschach pattern on the wall behind the
victim? And if we do should we then be surprised when death isn’t taken seriously?
Humans are largely visual
creatures with an amazing ability to create images in their minds. As an author
I am always conscious of the potential power words have. Ripped sinews,
dripping blood, brain matter, shattered bone, and broken fingernails provide
details that both make scenes more realistic and disturbing.
While I am, without a doubt,
arguing that authors choosing to write scenes of violence shouldn’t be afraid
to throw that reality at the reader. (In fact not being able to commit fully to
it could be seen as a weakness.) I’m not a proponent of being indiscriminant.
There is such a thing as too much. The gratuitous use of violence, chronic in
the modern entertainment industry, is an irresponsible use of the power of the
pen. It has its place and it is the responsibility of the writer to find
it.
So, while it is easy to gloss
over what may seem to be irrelevant or sensationalizing details in a fight
scene, remember that writing such details is as uncomfortable as reading them.
They are there for a reason. Appreciate them.
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Excellent points! And I agree with the aunt that the visceral depictions help connect us to the characters involved and the height of the stakes.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great, can't wait for the result of the giveaway
ReplyDeleteGreat guest post!! Cool feature :) New follower!
ReplyDeleteCierra @ Blogovation Design
www.blogovationdesign.blogspot.com