Fun with plot summaries!
I've been cleared by my doc for the next two weeks, so I WILL be attending the Writing for Charity evening extravaganza. Wish I could do the day workshop as well. It's so fun and so worth it. I hope many writers will attend. You don't need to be a writer to attend the evening extravaganza--just enjoy a cool book-themed evening. Only two more days to register at the discounted price! Also, my item is up on the silent auction: "Shannon Hale will rave about you on her blog, describing in detail how you saved her life several times."
Recently, a fellow author pointed out a blog post where a woman disparages teen lit in general and the American Library Association in particular for their book recommendations, based solely on the one-sentence plot summaries of the books. Here are a couple of examples:
Jumping Off Swings
Ellie is pregnant after looking for love in the wrong places with one too many boys. Corrine, Caleb and Josh all deal with the emotions, consequences and difficult decisions ahead.
Going Bovine
Cameron knew there was something wrong when he started seeing pillars of fire and angels, but he never imagined he had mad cow disease.
And from those summaries, of course, the blogger is instantly equipped to judge trash from art. This sort of blog post is pretty common. Now you know me, I'm always a fan of publicly condemning books you haven't read. Such fun! Great hobby! But that aside, this strikes me as a wonderful new game. Let's see just how horrid any award-winning, critically acclaimed, or morally upright book sounds when pared down to one sentence. Name these books and add your own one-sentence wonders in the comments! Mine are taken from texts commonly assigned in high school lit courses.
1. Impotent Jake Barnes can't consummate his love for Lady Brett, so instead he picks up prostitutes, watches bull fights, goes fishing, and drinks like a fish.
2. After the ghost of his father instructs him to murder his uncle for murdering his father and marrying his mother, a young man thinks aloud a lot and verbally abuses his girlfriend.
3. Hester has an affair with a weakling preacher but won't tell anybody that the baby is his because she is a noble adulteress.
4. A war hero, anxious to return home to his wife and son, dallies first for seven years on an island with his immortal mistress.
5. After meeting once, two teenagers decide to get married (even though their families want to kill each other) with fatal results.
6. A young girl wishes she could hammer on rocks and talk through them in mystical manners but instead watches goats and goes to school.
7. Emma, bored by her husband and child, has a couple of unsatisfying affairs, becomes a shopaholic, then commits suicide.
8. A small town man, trapped in a childless, unhappy marriage, falls in love with his wife's young cousin, with whom he attempts suicide by extreme sledding.