This post isn’t really about how to shock readers.
Shocked?
We discussed a disgusting book in class some months ago. The Room by Hubert Selby Jr, which describes the vilest fantasies of a convicted criminal as he sits in his cell. It uses profanity, pornographic and sadistic imagery to shock and make readers feel uncomfortable.
I don’t see any merit in such a piece of work.
Why?
Because it’s easy to do. Write down the absolutely worst and most sickening scenarios you can come up with. Present it to readers and make them wonder WTF is going on in your mind.
That’s not hard to do. You don’t have to worry about building tension, creating atmosphere. You don’t have to worry much about word-choice, either. Just use the worst fucking words you can think of. I’m not against grit and violence in novels, but The Room is an example of a book that seems to consist of the most primative and basic violence. No style.
Selby shocks readers not because characters do the unexpected. He shocks readers because he describes digusting fantasies in detail.
Is that art? Nowadays, people tend to be very democratic and insist every single personal expression may be a piece of art. I don’t think so.
Consider this quote:
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’”
― Isaac Asimov
That is an awesome quote. Something I will have to steal.
I agree. I felt the same way about Lolita. It was like – really? That’s art? I suppose for some it is, but as they say…beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t see some works’ merits, so I guess I am free to not read it. Of course, that’s hard advice to follow if it is a class assignment…
I suppose some people’s lives are too beautiful, so they feel inclined to plunge into the depths of a maniac’s conscious. Or perhaps they’re just better at withdrawing their feelings and imagination when they read.
Or, some folks want to feel that self-righteousness and anger? Maybe it confirms their belief about some folks while allowing them to see things from a different perspective? I guess. But the thing is, I really don’t want to relate to a torturer’s or pedophile’s perspective. At least, not for entertainment and not THAT much.
I’m with you. I cringe when I read such things. It is not entertainment…
To some people, it is entertainment.
Who are you to judge?
As this blog is where I express my own personal opinion it should be clear that I am not judging or condemning anyone, I am simply expressing my own personal views. If you don’t agree with what I say, that’s fine. Though I personally cannot think of such a book as entertainment, I understand that there are all kinds of different people and different shades of characters on this planet, and thus even this novel has its audience. Just the fact that it was published goes to show that it constitutes some kind of entertainment for some people. Just not for me.