Al,
This is a good discussion that could go on and on, but it's a
little difficult by e-mail -- all this writing is hard
work.
I do agree that showing a character's response to pain is a
way of developing the character. The debatable part is how it
is done.
Why is a scene where someone gets socked in the kisser more
acceptable (to me) than one someone's teeth are pulled with
pliers? Good question. I can think of two main aspects.
First, it's more run of the mill (TV, movies, books) and I'm
inured to it. Second, torture is worse than a single
punch.
As to whether rapists really commonly pull their victims'
teeth -- who knows? The newspapers may leave out such gory
details -- and maybe novelists make things up.
You're right that certain books stay with us because of
certain scenes, and that can be a good thing. Yet there are a
few novels that I truly regret having read, because all I
really remember is a horrific bit, not even the author or
title.
The kind of violence that bothers each of us most, and how
much violence is too much or unnecessary are both highly
personal judgments, largely based I suppose on our individual
psychology (childhood experience with scalding cocoa, and so
on). I just thought it might be worth going into the subject
a little. I know I'm not the only one who reads a lot of
hardboiled or noir fiction, yet still has reservations about
certain depictions of violence.
Clearly novelists write things that by their very nature fall
within the realm of what they find acceptable and necessary
for their work. But I believe that writers frequently make
changes in response to their first readers' reactions, and I
don't see why those changes might not include toning down
violent scenes. Censorship, self-censorship, self-restraint,
editing, writing to market, responding to criticism: aren't
these related concepts, not all of them necessarily
bad?
In closing, I should reiterate that I liked The Killing of
the Tinkers and I realize that the first tooth incident
necessitated the other two.
In any case, Al, I always find it enlightening to hear from a
writer on the writing process.
An associated question that I keep coming back to is this:
why do I read so much crime/mystery fiction, an inherently
violent genre? I'm still thinking about it. I'm also thinking
of taking a break. I've just got a biography of Oscar Wilde
that looks fascinating. Oh wait, I think there's some crime
in it.
Karin
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