5 ms·
I'd consider James Bond to lie more toward the genre of "action" rather than "thriller." An action story has three obligatory elements: - a hero (James Bond)
by Octokiddie 4y ago
I'd consider James Bond to lie more toward the genre of "action" rather than "thriller."
An action story has three obligatory elements:
- a hero (James Bond)
- a victim (humanity, or maybe a damsel)
- a villain (rotating)
This sounds childishly simple, and it is. But it's also very easy for authors of thrillers to forget the triangle because it's not something you even notice in a well-crafted action story. But all three need to be fleshed out to the extent that the audience cares about them.
The difference between an action story and a thriller is that in a thriller, the victim and hero are the same character. For example, Stephen King's Misery is a thriller because the hero is the victim. Action stories often involve the hero's facing death, but it's done to save the victim.
Something else that's easy to forget is the human value at stake in an action story: life and death. James Bond is always on the edge of being killed, even when in extracurricular persuits. If Bond doesn't succeed, the victim is toast, and the stranger that death is, the better. At the end of the story, there's no doubt which way it went.
This is why good action stories are page-turners, or as Fleming writes:
> "You have to get the reader to turn over the page."
Humans are hardwired to pay attention when death is a possible outcome. That's why rubbernecking is a thing even though people complain about it. It's also one reason cited for the popularity of NASCAR. Death can come at any time even though the action is quite repetitive.
More than that, the scenes in an action story tend to turn on life and death. That's one place where action story authors can get into trouble: writing too many scenes that turn on a value other than life-death, or don't turn on anything. It's shockingly easy to write scenes that offer nothing more than information. One or two of them is all it takes for the reader to yawn and quit.
- jameshart 4y agoNot sure I agree with this taxonomy. Remember, the genre ‘thriller’ has a different meaning when applied to written fiction, as opposed to movies. As Eddie Izzard once memorably pointed out, you get a lot of car chases in movies; very few car chases in books though. So in movies we see ‘action’ emerge as a distinct genre, with ‘thriller’ left for more Hitchcockian psychological excitement (and then Michael Jackson comes along and confuses everyone by writing a song about horror movies and calling it ‘Thriller’). But meanwhile in novel-land, spy stories (and detective stories) were always ‘thrillers’ - although maybe that does conjure more Len Deighton or Le Carré than Fleming… Still, from ‘thrillers’ we also get ‘techno thrillers’ which in some ways also build off Bond-like action elements. I suppose there is the other pulp-ish fiction category of ‘adventure’, which you could also shelve Bond under, alongside war stories and explorers and space captains.
- Archelaos 4y ago> in novel-land, spy stories (and detective stories) were _always_ ‘thrillers’ I do not agree with regard to detective stories, because the thriller aspect varies a lot from story to story. There are many examples where the focus is primarily on the who-done-it aspect: the detective arrives at a crime scene and demonstrates his superior ability of deduction.
- jameshart 4y agoOh, naturally, there’s a world of difference between a whodunnit and a detective thriller. I’m thinking Dashiell Hammett, not Agatha Christie.
- Archelaos 4y agoMy remark was targeting the "always" with regard to detective stories. Of course, I would have no objections if you only claim that detective thrillers are always thrillers. A more interesting question is what narrative principles are at work when a detective thrillers leans more towards the "whodunnit" side in contrast to when it leans more towards the thriller side of the spectrum. For example, a classic narrative strategy of the "whodunnit" story is further murders during an ongoing investigation, with the victim being the respective current prime suspect. This thriller element increases the urgency of the investigation (thriller aspect) and it at the same time is meant to impress and confront the reader with the challange that the hitherto closest explanation of the murders needs to be replaced by something more sophisticated ("whodunnit" aspect).
- parenthesis 4y ago(The song 'Thriller' was written by Rod Temperton, by the way.)
- pahbloo 4y agoI had to look at your comment history to see if you always comment in parentheses.