Archive for October 2023
Emotional distance and reader empathy
by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—At a book festival recently, I listened to a young author named Hannah who specializes in thrillers, a genre in which also I’ve worked. During the Q&A, a reader asked whether Hannah feels troubled while describing scenes of detailed cruelty or bloodshed. Flatly, Hannah said “No.” She explained that, as a……
Read MoreIsrael, Hamas and the revolutionaries of Ed 101
by David Benjamin “… We may graduate our students, confer degrees that certify their qualifications as the best and brightest. But we have clearly failed to educate them. We have failed to give them the ethical foundation and moral compass to recognize the basics of humanity…” — Ezekiel J. Emanuel, vice provost for global…
Read MoreA portrait of the artist as a portrait of the artist
by David Benjamin “Before I start a book, I’ve usually got four hundred pages of notes. Most of them are almost incoherent. But there’s always a moment when you think you’ve got a novel started. You can more or less see how it’s going to work out. After that, it’s just a question of detail.”…
Read MoreSwimming the sea of metaphor
Fiction agnostics—readers who consume only non-fiction—tend to be unaware of how profoundly flights of imaginative fancy, have enriched their language and illuminated their lives. by David Benjamin “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by……
Read MoreThe conscience of the news
by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — My first assignment in journalism, as a college-student stringer for the Rockford (Ill.) Morning Star, was a murder. Alas, it was no mystery. A guy had been killed in a bar fight in Beloit, Wisconsin. The killer was in jail. My editor wanted me to go over to…
Read MoreThe once and future zombie apocalypse
by David Benjamin “This is the way the world ends; not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door.” ― Amanda Hocking, Hollowland PARIS — It has long been one of my items of faith that actor Stanley Tucci has never accepted a bad script. This conviction…
Read MoreTo recur or not recur
Every writer’s cast of characters is finite. The sources of those characters begin in the many facets of the writer’s own self. The astute reader can often perceive the recurrence of character from story to story and appreciate the writer’s skill in drawing variation from repetition. by David Benjamin Sometimes, a recurring character can recur……
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