Some people comment that this novel engages in too much in-depth description of sex and violence. What was your reaction to these depictions? Do you think they were over the top, or fitted in with the context? Were you shocked at all?
i think that the novel does go into a bit to much description about the rape and sex scenes in the book but this is part of the writing style that Lian Hearn uses. i have read all his other books and this sort of writing is used in them as well, he describes the exessive violence in full detail becasue that is what he is good at he can do it without repulsing you yet you dont want to put the book down when takeo is creeping into the castle because he makes you feel like your almost there watching him as he sneaks past all the guards and you feel your heart racing as he is almost discovered.
so yes Lian Hearn does use a lot of detail when describing the sex and violence in the novel, but thats what makes it so good.
I was neither shocked nor surprised by the descriptive violence and sex scenes. If anything, I believe that they were necessary as they added to the excitement and drama. The first violent scene occurs in pages four through to twelve. I will now retell one of the most bloody and descriptive paragraphs in this battle: “The headless body fell with a thud and a gush of blood, the head rolling down the slope. The third man dropped his stick and ran backwards calling for help. The wolf man was on his knees, trying to staunch the blood from the stump at his elbow. He did not groan or speak.” Now, from reading this, many may be appalled by the intricate detail; a bleeding head rolling down a hill and a man on his knees, gripping his injured arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this scene. In fact; it is one of my favourite parts of the book. Why you ask? Because it’s what makes the book so special. Since everything is so well explained, we can paint a picture of what is happening. It’s almost like we’re there. If Lian Hearn wrote “The headless body fell with a thud, there was blood. It rolled away. The third man dropped his stick and ran away. The wolf man was on the ground because his arm had been cut off and was bleeding. He did not say anything.” We would immediately lose interest in the story. For a start, the language is very poor. Secondly, the story doesn’t flow so it would be a boring read. Finally, because there are very simple describing words, we cannot picture the story as easily. On page 46 where the guard tries to rape Kaede, people may also be shocked by the descriptive words. “He grabbed her by her right hand and pulled her closer to him, pushing one leg between hers, forcing her thighs apart. She felt the hard bulge of his sex against her, and with her left hand, almost without thinking, she jabbed the knife into his neck.” Although some may be repulsed by the words, this is what makes a story a story. We feel like we are there because of the words used. If Lian wrote “He tried to rape her but Kaede stabbed him.” We wouldn’t know what Kaede was feeling and why she stabbed the man. The descriptions add to the context and the reality of the story. This is what I believe and that is why I was not shocked by the in depth violence and sex scenes.
I agree with what Ben and Ciaran said (to an extent), the amount of depth and description is what makes a story a story. In fact, the parts of the story that engage in "hard-hitting" sex and violence scenes are the most thrilling and captivating parts because they make us feel as if we are there with the characters. However, I have to say that the style Lian Hearn uses in the book could be made less sadistic: eg...
"The headless body fell with a thud, there was blood. It rolled away. The third man dropped his stick and ran away. The wolf man was on the ground because his arm had been cut off and was bleeding. He did not say anything."
The description is great and we don't have to try too hard to imagine the scene, but the way it is written, in my opinion, is a bit to aggressive. To cut some of the gruesome parts out I think would be better:
"The headless body fell with a thud, blood spread around it. The third man dropped his stick and ran away. The wolf man was on the ground because his arm had been cut off. He did not say anything."
In my opinion, a paragraph like the second one is just as informative and descriptive, just a little bit less aggressive and 'shocking' to those who are not into extreme violence.
So, to say I was shocked isn't true, but I thought that the belligerence of the style could be taken down just a bit.
I felt that the sex and violence was boringly described. At times I felt that it was under described and over too quickly as a result of a lack of build up. This violence does not shock me at all, it's nothing compared to the violence you see on movies and television. Maybe it was also due to the fact that i couldn't really get into the book. I felt that the action kept me interested and part of that was the violence, but i felt there wasn't enough and when there was it was over in a paragraph, this also meant that the violence was always in context as it was never used unnecessarily. I feel that Hearn has a problem with his usage of violence as I feel he cannot use it without going over the top with boring details.
I personally prefer a third person story as there is less emotional description and more action. I feel Hearn's violence is underused and when it is used it is boringly desribed as it is sudden and there is little build up to the moment.
I felt that the sex and violence scenes weren't too in depth, although they were more descriptive than most books, because all Lian Hearn was doing was decribing real life and that is what happens in real life. If these scenes were in a movie, no one would be saying anything about it, and Hearn uses his description to captivate readers and make them unable to put the book down, but there are always some people who disagree with the way a book is written
As most people said I was not really shocked by the level of description because in the story these scenes were necessary, if they were not there the story would not really make sense. They also as the Big Ben said added to the excitement and drama of the story and in my view description was the author's forte.
The description made me picture the events very clearly in my mind and I felt as if I was actually there with the character in almost every scene. The descriptions used in the story were very captivating and made me not want to put the book down at times.
Jono said that he thought the book could have used less detail but I have to disagree there. If there is not detail the whole event can become a bit vague. If you can make a picture in your mind then there is a good book but if it does become a bit vague it is harder to not get bored of the book. As Hayden M said all that Lian Hearn was doing is describing real life and as he said we would think nothing of it if it were a movie so why should we think of it differently if it were literature?
I was not shocked by the amount of detail because that is what makes the story a whole lot more interesting and overall a better read.
7 comments:
i think that the novel does go into a bit to much description about the rape and sex scenes in the book but this is part of the writing style that Lian Hearn uses.
i have read all his other books and this sort of writing is used in them as well, he describes the exessive violence in full detail becasue that is what he is good at he can do it without repulsing you yet you dont want to put the book down when takeo is creeping into the castle because he makes you feel like your almost there watching him as he sneaks past all the guards and you feel your heart racing as he is almost discovered.
so yes Lian Hearn does use a lot of detail when describing the sex and violence in the novel, but thats what makes it so good.
I was neither shocked nor surprised by the descriptive violence and sex scenes. If anything, I believe that they were necessary as they added to the excitement and drama. The first violent scene occurs in pages four through to twelve. I will now retell one of the most bloody and descriptive paragraphs in this battle: “The headless body fell with a thud and a gush of blood, the head rolling down the slope. The third man dropped his stick and ran backwards calling for help. The wolf man was on his knees, trying to staunch the blood from the stump at his elbow. He did not groan or speak.”
Now, from reading this, many may be appalled by the intricate detail; a bleeding head rolling down a hill and a man on his knees, gripping his injured arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this scene. In fact; it is one of my favourite parts of the book. Why you ask? Because it’s what makes the book so special. Since everything is so well explained, we can paint a picture of what is happening. It’s almost like we’re there. If Lian Hearn wrote “The headless body fell with a thud, there was blood. It rolled away. The third man dropped his stick and ran away. The wolf man was on the ground because his arm had been cut off and was bleeding. He did not say anything.” We would immediately lose interest in the story. For a start, the language is very poor. Secondly, the story doesn’t flow so it would be a boring read. Finally, because there are very simple describing words, we cannot picture the story as easily.
On page 46 where the guard tries to rape Kaede, people may also be shocked by the descriptive words. “He grabbed her by her right hand and pulled her closer to him, pushing one leg between hers, forcing her thighs apart. She felt the hard bulge of his sex against her, and with her left hand, almost without thinking, she jabbed the knife into his neck.” Although some may be repulsed by the words, this is what makes a story a story. We feel like we are there because of the words used. If Lian wrote “He tried to rape her but Kaede stabbed him.” We wouldn’t know what Kaede was feeling and why she stabbed the man. The descriptions add to the context and the reality of the story. This is what I believe and that is why I was not shocked by the in depth violence and sex scenes.
I agree with what Ben and Ciaran said (to an extent), the amount of depth and description is what makes a story a story. In fact, the parts of the story that engage in "hard-hitting" sex and violence scenes are the most thrilling and captivating parts because they make us feel as if we are there with the characters. However, I have to say that the style Lian Hearn uses in the book could be made less sadistic: eg...
"The headless body fell with a thud, there was blood. It rolled away. The third man dropped his stick and ran away. The wolf man was on the ground because his arm had been cut off and was bleeding. He did not say anything."
The description is great and we don't have to try too hard to imagine the scene, but the way it is written, in my opinion, is a bit to aggressive. To cut some of the gruesome parts out I think would be better:
"The headless body fell with a thud, blood spread around it. The third man dropped his stick and ran away. The wolf man was on the ground because his arm had been cut off. He did not say anything."
In my opinion, a paragraph like the second one is just as informative and descriptive, just a little bit less aggressive and 'shocking' to those who are not into extreme violence.
So, to say I was shocked isn't true, but I thought that the belligerence of the style could be taken down just a bit.
I felt that the sex and violence was boringly described. At times I felt that it was under described and over too quickly as a result of a lack of build up. This violence does not shock me at all, it's nothing compared to the violence you see on movies and television. Maybe it was also due to the fact that i couldn't really get into the book. I felt that the action kept me interested and part of that was the violence, but i felt there wasn't enough and when there was it was over in a paragraph, this also meant that the violence was always in context as it was never used unnecessarily. I feel that Hearn has a problem with his usage of violence as I feel he cannot use it without going over the top with boring details.
I personally prefer a third person story as there is less emotional description and more action. I feel Hearn's violence is underused and when it is used it is boringly desribed as it is sudden and there is little build up to the moment.
I felt that the sex and violence scenes weren't too in depth, although they were more descriptive than most books, because all Lian Hearn was doing was decribing real life and that is what happens in real life.
If these scenes were in a movie, no one would be saying anything about it, and Hearn uses his description to captivate readers and make them unable to put the book down, but there are always some people who disagree with the way a book is written
As most people said I was not really shocked by the level of description because in the story these scenes were necessary, if they were not there the story would not really make sense. They also as the Big Ben said added to the excitement and drama of the story and in my view description was the author's forte.
The description made me picture the events very clearly in my mind and I felt as if I was actually there with the character in almost every scene. The descriptions used in the story were very captivating and made me not want to put the book down at times.
Jono said that he thought the book could have used less detail but I have to disagree there. If there is not detail the whole event can become a bit vague. If you can make a picture in your mind then there is a good book but if it does become a bit vague it is harder to not get bored of the book. As Hayden M said all that Lian Hearn was doing is describing real life and as he said we would think nothing of it if it were a movie so why should we think of it differently if it were literature?
I was not shocked by the amount of detail because that is what makes the story a whole lot more interesting and overall a better read.
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