Grant Spendlove answers “Does anyone else think Mr. Simmons...”

Gordon Grant asked this question about Song of Kali:

Does anyone else think Mr. Simmons demonstrates a streak of racism in this book? The uniformly vile description of India and all the people he encounters there in contrast to the idyllic visions of Vermont, Colorado and his lovable, New Yorker friend Abe leaves a sour, xenophobic taste in my mouth.

Grant Spendlove To say that the author's and narrator's views and philosophies are necessarily the same, especially when it comes to the world of horror fiction, is s…moreTo say that the author's and narrator's views and philosophies are necessarily the same, especially when it comes to the world of horror fiction, is so off the mark I can't even. If I write a book about cannibalism, and my first-person narrator speaks to the reader about the joys of eating human rump roast, does that make *me* pro-cannibalism? No. Luczak in the book hates the city of Calcutta because of what happened to him, his wife and child there. He wants to see the whole place nuked because he believes the city itself is a slimy, vicious, evil entity that needs to be destroyed for the good of mankind. Perfectly understandable when you consider everything Luczak went through there. A tourist in the U.S. might feel the same way about New York, or all Americans, if he were beaten and robbed during his trip. You could hardly blame him. An author's characters tell you nothing about the author. The whole point of writing fiction (especially horror fiction) is roleplaying: putting a regular guy (someone the reader can identify with) into direct conflict with forces impossible to fathom and circumstances beyond his control, and seeing how he deals with and reacts to the resulting mess....and that includes telling how he feels about the whole thing when it's all over, assuming he survives. (Honestly now, how *should* Luczak feel about Calcutta at the end of this story? Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory or Hell On Earth? You tell me.) (less)

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