The perfect story. Is it a myth

[MelissaBaby]

Perfect? I'd be happy just to write a story and not find a half dozen typos after I've submitted it.

 

[NaomiDPlumm]

The perfect novel?
Gone With The Wind
To Kill A Mocking Bird

You don't agree? Millions of people and millions of dollars say you're wrong.

And Harper Lee never published another book during her lifetime. Did she perhaps believe that nothing would ever live up to 'TKAM' ?

 

[TadOverdon]

Such a beautiful and kind tale. Not erotic, obviously!

Just as well. It would be rejected at lit for underage characters.

 

[MillieDynamite]

The perfect novel?
Gone With The Wind
To Kill A Mocking Bird

You don't agree? Millions of people and millions of dollars say you're wrong.

To Kill a Mocking Bird is on of my favorite books. Not perfect, after all, it's about an imperfect world and he did lose the case.

Gone With The Wind, a longing for the antebellum past by a racist woman who portrayed the beginning of the Ku Klux Klan as Nobel. If you don't see the racism, well, that's your problem not mine. The move is just as racist. I'm not saying they aren't entertaining, they are. I just understand how things worked back then and this type of sublet racism and justification of racism is somewhat disturbing to me.

You can't read the portrayal of slaves and freed negros and not get the feeling they liked being owned. You can't imagine a world where they can make it in the world on their own.

 

[nobodyridesforfree]

the chase of humanity .. .

Perfection is simply subjective.

Like Phaedrus losing it while trying to define/teach 'Quality' - everyone's view is perpetually different no matter how much in agreement.

 

[yowser]

Some time ago, in a quite different context, I heard a Hindu sadhu talk about what a 'perfect' act would be. The arena was 'ethics' but it wasn't complicated to him, no metaphysical or aesthetic gerrymandering required.

'Anything you do that brings some benefit to someone (even yourself) but does no harm to anyone, is a perfect act.'

If we broaden our definitions a little, we got a lot of perfect here on this site.

 

[Auden James]

Interesting to see David Foster Wallace mentioned here; when I asked about him many, many years ago no one seemed to have heard of him at all. Still, mentioning him doesn't necessarily mean reading him too, and I take gunhilltrain's later comment to mean that he didn't actually read "the damn thing."

Hence, I may well be still the only person on LIT to have read Infinite Jest, first page to last page, all 1079 of them (including all 388 endnotes). Or has anyone else on here done the same thing by now?

As to the foregoing discussion of "perfection," the staggering subjectivism espoused by most (if not all) users reminds me somewhat painfully of the rejection of truth so fashionable, especially in America (US), in the last few years . . .

 

[yowser]

Hence, I may well be still the only person on LIT to have read Infinite Jest, first page to last page, all 1079 of them (including all 388 endnotes). Or has anyone else on here done the same thing by now?

You are not alone.

 

[Auden James]

So, you have too, is that right?

 

[yowser]

So, you have too, is that right?

Correct.

 

[Auden James]

And may I ask what your reason for reading it was?

 

[rescatooor]

And may I ask what your reason for reading it was?

I mean, it's a pretty popular book, isn't it? The English lit bookshelves where I live are kind of bare but two times out of three they have it.

Not that I've read it. I used to avoid contemporary lit for years, citing a rule about reading nothing that wasn't at least 20 years old.

 

[Auden James]

Well, Infinite Jest is 25 years old, so what then is your reason for not reading it?

And, as I already said above, when I asked about its late author so many years ago no one around here seemed to have heard of him at all. Hence it may be a pretty popular book with the general lit crowd (by now), but apparently it's (still) not all too popular with LIT authors a/o readers!

 

[rescatooor]

Well, Infinite Jest is 25 years old, so what then is your reason for not reading it?

Honestly, it's not an author whose body of work seemed appealing to me, especially in contrast to the other authors I wanted to read at the time. And at university nobody has made me read him yet either, so... I guess there you have it. Haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Auden James]

Have you, incidentally, read any of John Barth's or Thomas Pynchon's? I think these are two of the most influential authors for David Foster Wallace. Maybe, to test the waters so to speak, read Lost in the Funhouse by Barth first, a short story that inspired Foster Wallace's Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (included in his Girl with Curious Hair short story collection), a kind of precursor to Infinite Jest in novella form.

 

[rescatooor]

Have you, incidentally, read any of John Barth's or Thomas Pynchon's? I think these are two of the most influential authors for David Foster Wallace. Maybe, to test the waters so to speak, read Lost in the Funhouse by Barth first, a short story that inspired Foster Wallace's Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (included in his Girl with Curious Hair short story collection), a kind of precursor to Infinite Jest in novella form.

Honestly I haven't read many American authors. I also made a silly rule about sticking to British authors since they were most likely to be useful for my studies. (I specialized in British English literature.) But I'm slowly dipping my feet into American literature, so I will have a look at those authors and see where I find myself. So thanks for the tip!

 

[Auden James]

Then it's probably the other way around for me, at least concerning more or less contemporary fiction (apart from Rushdie's, Gaiman's, and Smith's). Do you have any particular favourite to recommend?

 

[rescatooor]

Then it's probably the other way around for me, at least concerning more or less contemporary fiction (apart from Rushdie's, Gaiman's, and Smith's). Do you have any particular favourite to recommend?

Depends on what one likes. There are many that have just been inexplicably forgotten and haven't been in print for years.
Angela Carter has been a bit of a favorite of mine. She used to rub shoulders with Rushdie quite a bit so they have some similarities. She basically does magical realism, postmodern feminism and fairy tales. Many of the short stories are online, like Tiger's Bride or The Bloody Chamber, in case you want to give her a try.

 

[Auden James]

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll look into The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, especially The Tiger's Bride. Do you regard Carter as an influence on your own writing?

 

[Emirus]

Myth.

Myth is the perfect story, Tadoverdon? Is that a Lit story or a proper book . Could you possibly give a link or, if it’s a “proper” book give the author so I might buy it to see if I agree with you?

Looking at your comment again I think I may have misunderstood your answer.

 

[RetroFan]

The only perfect stories are written and read by people from Atlantis as they watch unicorns frolic through the fields of blue roses.

Why? Because everyone's perception is different and one person's treasure can be another person's trash and vice versa.

 

[Saffyre]

Has anyone ever read what they consider the perfect Lit story? One they would give 6 out of 5. Has anyone written what they consider the perfect story? That’s one for the egotists lol. Seriously I suppose the question might be had anyone ever read a story they consider to be as near perfect as anyone on Lit is likely to achieve?

1……….I’ve never read the perfect Literotica story although I’ve read quite a few which I’ve considered to be very good for the standard of the amateur writers on this site.

2……….Has any Literotica writer written what they consider the perfect story? As the OP has said that’s one for the egotists on here. For myself, I’ve never come within a million miles of writing a perfect story and never will. That’s a very safe bet. But I have written, in my humble opinion, stories which are good and an enjoyable read. If I didn’t think so I wouldn’t have submitted them. I think that would apply to many others who have stories on here.

 

[XerXesXu]

I have no concept of perfect, I wouldn’t recognise it if I saw it. I have no expectation, or hope, of achieving anything beyond a consistent competence in constructing a story and literately, presenting it. I expect no more from others, but would be pleased to be proved pessimistic.

Lit and writing aside, a story is a story. I watched High Noon yesterday. (In Tagalog, but I can remember the words.) As Westerns go, in my opinion, it’s a near-perfect story. But, it could be nearer perfect. What more could you want? Well, when I was a kid, I always wondered why the heroes in these movies never ended up with the good-looking girl. In my opinion, High Noon would have been nearer perfect if the dark-haired girl had got off the train, and the blond had stayed on. Now, in my maturity, I also wonder about the Quakers’ position on blow-jobs.

What do the screen writers say?

 

[rescatooor]

Do you regard Carter as an influence on your own writing?

Kind of. The problem is I don't think I could write half so well. I really enjoy the sensuality in her writing and I think many erotica authors could take a page from her book.

Edit: Oh, and in case people now get inspired into buying/reading books by her, I recommend keeping clear from The Infernal Desire Machines, because that book is hardcore.