Derek Silvers shares a fascinating talk given by Kurt Vonnegut in which the novelist explains why people have such a need for drama in their life.
[Vonnegut] said, “People have been hearing fantastic stories since time began. The problem is, they think life is supposed to be like the stories. Let’s look at a few examples.”
With just a few graphs, he provides a brilliant explanation for how stories affect human expectations. I don’t think it’s a slight to say that this is one of the Vonnegut’s best works. Read the rest here.
September 5th, 2009 | 5:37 pm
Eudora Welty once commented that “All serious daring is found within”, found in the confrontation with good and evil in the human heart that occurs daily, often in matters that seem mundane at the time. At least to me, this qualifies as the ultimate in serious drama, one with eternal implications.
September 7th, 2009 | 12:02 pm
I saw Vonegut give this same chalk talk when I was an undergraduate at Emory University almost 20 years ago. Sivers doesn’t mention a couple of the best moments. Vonegut plots a bunch of different story lines. Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Vonegut points out, starts down towards the misery end of the scale, maintains the same level of misery for a while, only to plummet off the bottom towards infinite misery when the protagonist wakes up as a roach. But Hamlet, which Vonegut describes as possibly the finest piece of drama ever produced, maintains a flat line, starting below the middle and basically staying there throughout the whole story.
September 7th, 2009 | 7:22 pm
[...] (Continue) (HT First Thoughts) [...]
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact