Comments on: Retelling stories

By: Sangu

Sangu — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:57:52 +0000

I have to admit, I personally love retellings, if they're done originally. I mean, if you're just going to rehash the same story in the same way, then it's boring and it's lazy. But if you do something creative and fun with it, I think it can be amazing.

I recently read and liked Alex Flinn's BEASTLY, which is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. And I'm looking forward to reading Jackson Pearce's SISTERS RED.

By: WriterGirl

WriterGirl — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:56:06 +0000

I'd read Juliet. In fact I might just keep my eye open for it now. I quite like retellings. It's all in the telling isn't it? I mean we've heard time and time again that there are no new stories so really these retellings are just being a bit more upfront about their sources! I don't think a retelling is the same as fanfic. Like Mary McDonald pointed out you could hardly call west side story fanfic right? It has it's own merits. As long as Juliet has it's own merits too then I wouldn't have any problem with it and would probably enjoy it as I think the basic themes of the Juliet story are fascinating. Obsessive love and suicide? Count me in!

By: Amie McCracken

Amie McCracken — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 07:41:01 +0000

Redos can be awful or amazing. It's black and white. They either ruin the story or give it a whole new side. If you're sick of authors doing remakes, check out movies lately. Nothing new! But I will usually give them a chance because hopefully that author added their own imagination and turned over a new side of the story.

By: Mary McDonald

Mary McDonald — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:23:17 +0000

Melina has a good point. Rent and West Side Story aren't true fanfic. The characters are different, the names, locations, etc. They re-work the same themes and update them to make them relavent today.

Fanfiction takes the same characters, but perhaps tells the story from a minor character's pov, or takes the character to places the original couldn't or wouldn't go. A good example is Wicked. It is fanfiction, pure and simple. The characters are the same but a different character is the main character.

By: Neal Wollenberg

Neal Wollenberg — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:30:58 +0000

I think ultimately, it comes down to whether or not the story is good. A prime example is Finn: A Novel by Jon Clinch. I love the idea of retelling a tale from the POV of another character, especially when it's an antagonist from the original.

Anyway, my two cents.

By: Melina

Melina — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:09:38 +0000

I don't know. I think if you go on to the LJ post the BoingBoing mention links to… the original poster there is using an awfully broad definition of what constitutes "fanfic" and I'm not sure the definition holds up. Is making fun of Sarah Palin on SNL "fanfic"? I'm unconvinced, but I'm also not sure where to put the line between retelling and fanfic, and whether something like historical fiction – which the LJ poster considers fanfic – is on that same continuum or not. It's an interesting question, though.

By: Mary McDonald

Mary McDonald — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:04:45 +0000

I am an admitted lover of fanfiction. If it weren't for reading XFiles fanfic, I'd have never started writing.

While my characters are my own now, I do borrow traits from some of my favorite characters.

I even enjoy reading fanfiction of fandoms I've never read/watched. For instance, Firefly and Stargate Atlantis. I read the fanfic before I ever saw an episode. One drives the other.

Would I read Juliet? Hmmm...not sure. I wasn't a big fan of Romeo and Juliet as it was force-fed to me my freshman year of highschool. But give me a re-telling of King Arthur and I'd give it a go. Heck, that sparks some ideas right there.

By: Kristin Laughtin

Kristin Laughtin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:03:35 +0000

It's been said many times before that there is nothing original, and I think to a large extent that's true. Even original stories borrow elements from various older stories, and they succeed because they combine those elements in new ways or disguise them so well that it's not immediately obvious.

Reboots, or obvious retellings, can be hit or miss. When they do succeed, they're awesome, IMO. There has to be something fresh and different enough to make it worth reading. (I think this is why retellings from the villain's point of view are popular. Like Dawn said, WICKED was hugely successful because nobody had any reason to see the Wicked Witch sympathetically before it came out.)

By: Vicki Rocho

Vicki Rocho — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:38:58 +0000

I'm torn. I understand being so in love with the original story you want to retell it your way, but so many times it ends up being a mistake, you only please yourself.

Once in awhile though, the author does succeed and adds real depth to the characters and creates a believable backstory that really enhances the original story. I'm hoping that's what Juliet is, but I'm not holding my breath quite yet.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:30:13 +0000

I think it can be a gamble – but many of those gambles have paid off. Wicked is hugely successful. And though I didn't like Ash, a very different re-telling of Cinderella, it has had fabulous reviews. Like with all literature, there are hits and misses.