3 ms·
Even if you don't dig deep, every memorable character is a snowflake because people who aren't snowflakes are boring and thus aren't interesting or memorable. S
by CocaKoala 12y ago
Even if you don't dig deep, every memorable character is a snowflake because people who aren't snowflakes are boring and thus aren't interesting or memorable. Stories are made to be interesting, and so they are, basically as a matter of fact, about people who end up being interesting.
Even Walter Mitty, possibly the most average man in literature that I can think of, was exceptional in his imagination, and it is that exception which makes his story compelling.
- soperj 12y agoHow did American Splendor ever get a following then?
- npsimons 12y agoTry "The Stars my Destination". A quick, enjoyable (IMHO) read, where the protagonist starts off unlikable and quite literally "The stereotype Common Man", but transforms into interesting. Many Great books have characters like this (just look to some of Dickens' stories). I guess some people's biggest complaints against a lot of popular bad writing is that it is indeed badly written: apart from having ridiculous (or no) plot, there's also no character development, or sometimes not even any character (what does it say about someone if their defining trait is not a part of their personality?). Some of us aren't just bored by unexceptional characters, we are bored by characters that don't change, even if they are "special".
- CocaKoala 12y agoI actually read that years ago and had forgotten about it; I should read it again. Maybe Catch-22 is another example? Yossarian is a pretty average soldier, from what I recall.