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> I value storycraft. The form of this story has used widely since, and those stories have been incredibly popular with both authors and audiences for well ove

> I value storycraft. The form of this story has used widely since, and those stories have been incredibly popular with both authors and audiences for well over 100 years now. Implying that a tried-and-true technique of story-telling lies outside of storycraft betrays basic a lack of understanding of the subject. Story tellers enjoy this form for the challenge of balancing what the omniscient narrator reveals-- too much or too strong in one direction and the whole thing falls flat. Readers enjoy the form because it feels a bit like ski jumping-- the writer provides the momentum and the reader's imagination leaps off the end with all the story's implications flying past. In fact, Nabokov balanced this same form masterfully in the short story, "Signs and Symbols." The effect there is that the reader leaps off into a level of... well, I don't want to ruin it. :) But it's enough to say that outside of VR I don't think that story could have been effectively written without using the lady-or-the-tiger form.

the_af 6y ago
Great comment! Now I'll have to hunt down that story by Nabokov.
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hitekker 6y ago
> Readers enjoy the form because it feels a bit like ski jumping-- the writer provides the momentum and the reader's imagination leaps off the end with all the story's implications flying past. Great metaphor. The story zips you down at full-speed, and then launches you upwards into the air. If you're comfortable feeling ungrounded, you'll be able to look across the horizon, in awe of the sights you couldn't see before. But if you're a lazy or cowardly person, your overriding urge will to return to the earth, to get back down to the safety of the soft slopes. Heck, later on, you might even petition the proprietor of the ski-resort to get rid of the ramp.
- codeulike 6y ago
  Well that would be great if the story had anything profound for me to ponder. I don't think it earnt it (speaking of my personal experience of the story). "Murderous jealousy exists" is hardly that earth shaking. I think partly with this story it was because it was on the front page of HN, so I had very high expectations. The story is clearly building to something, to me in 2020 it seemed disappointing. I'm interested to hear how it was received in 1882 though.

the_af 6y ago

Great comment! Now I'll have to hunt down that story by Nabokov.

deleted 6y ago

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hitekker 6y ago

> Readers enjoy the form because it feels a bit like ski jumping-- the writer provides the momentum and the reader's imagination leaps off the end with all the story's implications flying past. Great metaphor. The story zips you down at full-speed, and then launches you upwards into the air. If you're comfortable feeling ungrounded, you'll be able to look across the horizon, in awe of the sights you couldn't see before. But if you're a lazy or cowardly person, your overriding urge will to return to the earth, to get back down to the safety of the soft slopes. Heck, later on, you might even petition the proprietor of the ski-resort to get rid of the ramp.

codeulike 6y ago
Well that would be great if the story had anything profound for me to ponder. I don't think it earnt it (speaking of my personal experience of the story). "Murderous jealousy exists" is hardly that earth shaking. I think partly with this story it was because it was on the front page of HN, so I had very high expectations. The story is clearly building to something, to me in 2020 it seemed disappointing. I'm interested to hear how it was received in 1882 though.