I read a lot. And I watch more TV and movies than I should, I'm fairly certain. But as I consider the books, movies and TV shows I like, they seem to have something in common. They have characters that change and grow throughout the course of the story.
Consider, for example, the series of William Monk detective novels by Anne Perry. Her protagonist, Monk, wakes up in a hospital in book one and has no idea who he is or what happened to him. As the series has progressed, he has learned about himself - both things he likes and things he doesn't - and he has used that knowledge to improve himself.
Look at Lewis Gillies, the protagonist of Stephen Lawhead's Song of Albion series. Through the course of the trilogy, Lewis goes from being a follower to being a leader.
Even characters like Elizabeth Bennett, of Pride and Prejudice fame, and Thursday Next, from the series by the same name, change as the story goes on.
It's harder to see the changes in TV characters because you only spend an hour or so a week with them. But when I think about Sherlock Holmes, as portrayed by Jonny Lee Miller in Elementary, I can see the changes in his character over the course of the first two seasons.
Perhaps the reason I like seeing characters grow and change over time is that the changes make them seem more human, more real, if you will. For someone who likes to imagine herself into the stories she's reading or watching, it helps to have that hook. (FYI, I've been "reading myself into books" for a very long time, long before I started reading Jasper Fforde.)
Now, if you will excuse me for a moment, I've got to figure out how I can get myself into Dickens.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Survived
Yes, I survived the county fair, though I was pretty wiped out afterwards. Sorry I didn't get anything posted last week. I was still recovering.
School started Thursday, too. I can't believe we're into the school year already. It seems like we should have another week at least. I must say I don't miss being in school. I never really liked school. I don't know if it was the structure of the day, being forced to be social or not being able to read all day, but I didn't like it. Some of my teachers understood and didn't take my book away from me. :)
It was nice to see friends again after the summer and catch up on what had happened since school got out. We lived next door to my best friend Lisa, so we didn't have much catching up to do since we'd pretty much spent the whole summer together anyway. But my friends who lived on the other side of town or out in the country - it was good to see them again.
One trick I learned to help make the interminable school days more bearable was to do my homework quickly and take tests fast. Once I was done with my work, I could go back to my book. That carried over to college, and I think I surprised one of the professors. My senior year I took an Intro to Business class - freshman level and much easier than any of my other classes as far as that went. The day of the first test, I think I finished it in about 10 minutes. I took it up to the teacher's desk, and I think he expected me to ask him a question. I didn't have any questions other than "where should I put this?" I went back to my desk and spent the next 40 minutes happily engrossed in whatever book I was reading.
Ah, school. I really don't miss you.
School started Thursday, too. I can't believe we're into the school year already. It seems like we should have another week at least. I must say I don't miss being in school. I never really liked school. I don't know if it was the structure of the day, being forced to be social or not being able to read all day, but I didn't like it. Some of my teachers understood and didn't take my book away from me. :)
It was nice to see friends again after the summer and catch up on what had happened since school got out. We lived next door to my best friend Lisa, so we didn't have much catching up to do since we'd pretty much spent the whole summer together anyway. But my friends who lived on the other side of town or out in the country - it was good to see them again.
One trick I learned to help make the interminable school days more bearable was to do my homework quickly and take tests fast. Once I was done with my work, I could go back to my book. That carried over to college, and I think I surprised one of the professors. My senior year I took an Intro to Business class - freshman level and much easier than any of my other classes as far as that went. The day of the first test, I think I finished it in about 10 minutes. I took it up to the teacher's desk, and I think he expected me to ask him a question. I didn't have any questions other than "where should I put this?" I went back to my desk and spent the next 40 minutes happily engrossed in whatever book I was reading.
Ah, school. I really don't miss you.
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