Paulie Walnuts, the Terminator & My Novel
A few people who have read advanced copies of MAD DOG HOUSE (due out October 23rd) have commented on the number of references to popular culture in the novel. They even asked if I’m a pop culture freak.
The answer is: not really, but I find that certain references to popular culture can be a shorthand way of conveying vivid images to the reader. And they can enrich the read and enliven it, if they tap into a common thread of awareness--if they’re not used too frequently. (I’m thinking of Brett Easton Ellis’s novel, "American Psycho").
We all know what comes to mind when we hear or read the iconic names of certain people, or beloved television shows, or famous movies. They've become embedded in the popular consciousness and woven their way into our culture.
The Sopranos, Bada Bing!, Paulie Walnuts, The Terminator, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Night of the Living Dead, George Clooney, The Twilight Zone, Fringe, Donald Trump, the Bellagio, Field of Dreams, Leave it to Beaver, and many others are soaked in meaning and imagery.
They convey not only an image, but an atmosphere, a sense of time and place, maybe even a period of recent history, along with a sense of nostalgia--all of which can be conveyed colorfully and can strike a familiar chord with the reader.
If you say that a particularly evil woman reminds you of the Wicked Witch of the West, doesn’t that conjure an instant image?
You never run out of contemporary popular culture references because new ones pop up every day. Let’s face it; a contemporary novel should be contemporary. It should touch on what's happening here and now.
Mark Rubinstein
Author, MAD DOG HOUSE
(available October 23rd as an e-book and trade paperback everywhere)
The answer is: not really, but I find that certain references to popular culture can be a shorthand way of conveying vivid images to the reader. And they can enrich the read and enliven it, if they tap into a common thread of awareness--if they’re not used too frequently. (I’m thinking of Brett Easton Ellis’s novel, "American Psycho").
We all know what comes to mind when we hear or read the iconic names of certain people, or beloved television shows, or famous movies. They've become embedded in the popular consciousness and woven their way into our culture.
The Sopranos, Bada Bing!, Paulie Walnuts, The Terminator, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Night of the Living Dead, George Clooney, The Twilight Zone, Fringe, Donald Trump, the Bellagio, Field of Dreams, Leave it to Beaver, and many others are soaked in meaning and imagery.
They convey not only an image, but an atmosphere, a sense of time and place, maybe even a period of recent history, along with a sense of nostalgia--all of which can be conveyed colorfully and can strike a familiar chord with the reader.
If you say that a particularly evil woman reminds you of the Wicked Witch of the West, doesn’t that conjure an instant image?
You never run out of contemporary popular culture references because new ones pop up every day. Let’s face it; a contemporary novel should be contemporary. It should touch on what's happening here and now.
Mark Rubinstein
Author, MAD DOG HOUSE
(available October 23rd as an e-book and trade paperback everywhere)
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