![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Trusting the Author
Aug. 2nd, 2012 09:45 pmOn National Review Online, there's been a discussion of good books for a bright 13 year old to give him a foundation of conservative philosophy and culture. Lots of good suggestions. Animal Farm, Heinlein's short stories, and Bridge to Terabithia all seem good choices for the age and some people recommend things like The Federalist Papers, 1984, and That Hideous Strength, and I wonder if they remember what it was like to be 13.
I read That Hideous Strength when I was 16 or 17, after also reading the books that come before it in the Interplanetary Trilogy by CS Lewis. By that time, I had read a lot of Lewis. I had read the whole Chronicles of Narnia a couple of times through. I'd read The Screwtape Letters and Pilgrim's Regress (the annotated version). I'd even read a few of his non-fiction books. By then, I knew Lewis' writing pretty well, so when I read the note at the beginning of That Hideous Strength about it being a fairy tale that starts in our world before heading off into stranger places, I put my trust in him. For a teen who had never seen any people who acted like that, it was rough going to read NICE's actions. I had no context beyond the book itself. But I stuck it out through to the parts with the angels and the bears.
It was only later, several years later, that I started to see things, I recognized them. I had seen them before in That Hideous Strength. And the more I see of modern politics, the more I'm glad I read the book. I never would have finished it if I hadn't been willing to put my trust in CS Lewis' writing.
Some authors have earned my trust. For example, Changes is a big departure from the regular vibe of The Dresden Files, but I'd liked all of Jim Butcher's earlier books up to then, so I was willing to go with it. Ghost Story amply rewarded my patience. I can't wait for Cold Days.
Other authors.. not so much. I still haven't read Deathly Hallows. I got to Order of the Phoenix and.. just didn't like the characters as much as I had previously. I still read the other Harry Potter books because I was curious, but there's no urgency. These days, I keep thinking I should sit down and finish reading Deathly Hallows, but something always seems to come up. Rowling lost my trust.
When an author has your trust, you keep reading even things that are tough or outside your usual experience. You keep going, because you know this is going somewhere and you're willing to wait until you can see the whole picture even if it's years later.
Some authors I trust because I've read so much of their work and it's always been rewarding. But some authors, I trust because I know them more personally. I'm lucky to have "met" a couple of prolific writers here online. Some I know better than others, but because there's a relationship, I find myself picking up stories I normally wouldn't even glance at twice. I read them without checking genre or reviews, because I know the author. I trust them enough to take a chance even on things I normally wouldn't. So far, I have at least enjoyed my time spent.
So, tonight I've been thinking about that almost magic quality of trust that some authors get and some don't. Who do you trust? Why? Is it because they always deliver exactly the thing you want? Or is it because they take you to strange new places but make them all make sense anyway? Or is it just that you know them and they're such interesting or kind people that their work naturally shines through with those same qualities?
I read That Hideous Strength when I was 16 or 17, after also reading the books that come before it in the Interplanetary Trilogy by CS Lewis. By that time, I had read a lot of Lewis. I had read the whole Chronicles of Narnia a couple of times through. I'd read The Screwtape Letters and Pilgrim's Regress (the annotated version). I'd even read a few of his non-fiction books. By then, I knew Lewis' writing pretty well, so when I read the note at the beginning of That Hideous Strength about it being a fairy tale that starts in our world before heading off into stranger places, I put my trust in him. For a teen who had never seen any people who acted like that, it was rough going to read NICE's actions. I had no context beyond the book itself. But I stuck it out through to the parts with the angels and the bears.
It was only later, several years later, that I started to see things, I recognized them. I had seen them before in That Hideous Strength. And the more I see of modern politics, the more I'm glad I read the book. I never would have finished it if I hadn't been willing to put my trust in CS Lewis' writing.
Some authors have earned my trust. For example, Changes is a big departure from the regular vibe of The Dresden Files, but I'd liked all of Jim Butcher's earlier books up to then, so I was willing to go with it. Ghost Story amply rewarded my patience. I can't wait for Cold Days.
Other authors.. not so much. I still haven't read Deathly Hallows. I got to Order of the Phoenix and.. just didn't like the characters as much as I had previously. I still read the other Harry Potter books because I was curious, but there's no urgency. These days, I keep thinking I should sit down and finish reading Deathly Hallows, but something always seems to come up. Rowling lost my trust.
When an author has your trust, you keep reading even things that are tough or outside your usual experience. You keep going, because you know this is going somewhere and you're willing to wait until you can see the whole picture even if it's years later.
Some authors I trust because I've read so much of their work and it's always been rewarding. But some authors, I trust because I know them more personally. I'm lucky to have "met" a couple of prolific writers here online. Some I know better than others, but because there's a relationship, I find myself picking up stories I normally wouldn't even glance at twice. I read them without checking genre or reviews, because I know the author. I trust them enough to take a chance even on things I normally wouldn't. So far, I have at least enjoyed my time spent.
So, tonight I've been thinking about that almost magic quality of trust that some authors get and some don't. Who do you trust? Why? Is it because they always deliver exactly the thing you want? Or is it because they take you to strange new places but make them all make sense anyway? Or is it just that you know them and they're such interesting or kind people that their work naturally shines through with those same qualities?
