Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion
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Art Behind the Story
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Ransom Riggs did an interview (http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/blog/201...) and shared some information about the photographs used in his book and his writing process. What do you think about such approach to writing?IML: Can you tell us a bit about the evolution of the book? Do you remember the initial spark that inspired the story?
Ransom: Absolutely. I've been an amateur photographer since I was a kid, but a few years ago I got interested in another kind of photography -- found photography. That is: old pictures that used to belong to people but don't have homes anymore. You can find them at garage sales and second-hand stores and on eBay, and the more I saw of them, the more old pictures I found that I thought were really beautiful. So I started collecting them.
One particular kind of old photograph that interested me was pictures of kids -- many of which seemed sort of creepy, with the kids not smiling, wearing old, weird-looking clothes, and having crazy-looking hair. I started wondering about them, what their stories were. I couldn't know the truth, of course, since I had no idea who they were. So instead I made up stories about them, one after another, and those were the seeds of the characters -- the peculiar children -- that Jacob meets in the book.
IML: The photographs are pretty fascinating. Where do they come from? What can you tell us about the process of finding them and working them into the story?
Ransom: Almost all of them come from flea markets and antique stores. Many were lent to me by other photo collectors -- people who've been searching for cool old pictures for ten, twenty years, and have really amazing stuff. Working them into the story was the fun part -- but also a challenge. Sometimes I would come across a photo I really liked as I was writing, and I would find a way to change the story enough so that I could work the photo into the book. Other times I knew I needed to tell the story in a certain way, so I went out looking for photos of specific types of people or events, to fit what I had already written. So it was a strange, organic process where the photos influenced what I wrote and what I wrote also influenced the kinds of photos I was looking for.
IML: Usually, you don't see any kind of "visual aids" in books for tweens and teens -- like readers are supposed to outgrow them at a certain point. What do you think they add to the experience of a book?
Ransom: They say that a photograph is worth a thousand words, but I think there are things about really great photographs that you can't describe with even a million words. They're sort of like the soundtrack to a film. You can take away the music that's playing during a movie scene, and it doesn't really change the meaning of the scene -- but it's hard to argue that good music doesn't add something to the viewing experience. At the same time, just any music won't do. If the music feels wrong, it'll be jarring and mess up the scene. It's the same with photos in a book. The wrong photos would be distracting and mess up the reading experience. If I describe a scene or a person in words and then show you a picture and it's absolutely nothing like what you were imagining, it's like bad music in a film. It takes you out. But a picture that gels with the text can add all sorts of layers and details that would take forever to describe in words.
I'm only about half done with the book and I'm struggling with it some. But I think that including the photographs in the text often feels forced, like he's trying to fit them into the story. I think it would have been better if he had told the story without referring directly to the pictures, but included them anyway. The pictures are totally awesome (really, the only reason why I picked up the book in the first place) and I know he's written a book about photographs that comes out soon which I'm sure will be interesting.
I agree, Kim. I often felt that the way the story was written around some photos felt forced. For example, I remember that picture of a boy in a rabbit Halloween costume and it looked so disturbing and artsy that it didn't feel like it fit into a backstory where the boy's mother simply took it. There was a disconnect between how genuinely unsettling the photos were and how mundanely they were written into the novel.
I agree. The Halloween one sticks out the most. I didn't really think about it, but they were mundanely written in the book. I think it would have been better to tell the story and let our imaginations run wild about the pictures.
I sort of agree that the pictures sometimes seemed kind of out of sorts with the story, but I liked looking at them so much that I didn't really care.
The photos were SOOOO creepy - I'm a scaredy cat :) Wow Crystal, now I want to know which 2!
I'm 1/4-1/2 through the book and I typically read at night, from my bed. I actually had to stop one night when I knew a picture of those freaky clown children was coming up for a second time. I just *knew* that vision would somehow creep it's way into my dreams. And I think I like the pictures, but the placement of them seems off to me. I would have prefered the pictures to be collected in the middle of the book or maybe at the end (think Water for Elephants or something similar for reference). It's awkward when the words just stop mid-page to make room for an unsettling photograph.
Casey wrote: "I'm 1/4-1/2 through the book and I typically read at night, from my bed. I actually had to stop one night when I knew a picture of those freaky clown children was coming up for a second time. I jus..."haha same here! Part of the reason I stayed up all night reading was cuz I was too scared (I ended up reading into the morning when it got less scary)
I thought the pictures really made the story extra neat. Some of them did seem a little forced into the story, but I still found myself getting really excited when I saw a picture page coming up (I tried to be good and not look ahead). I also found myself with the problem of not wanting to look at the cover because the little girl looks so weird. I didn't mind she was floating but she looked about 100 years old. However, my usual trick when I don't like a book cover is to turn it over...the back of this book was worse, though!
The story definitely creeped me out a bit, though and I don't think it would have been as creepy without the pictures (especially the sketch of the monster). I'm such a baby.
Mod
I am dying to know which 2 photos were changed too!
Mod
I too found myself getting excited when a picture was coming up. And I wouldn't let myself cheat and look before getting to that page!! My favorite was the picture of the boat at the end with the battleships in the background. That picture was really meaningful to me.
I noticed that there is a picture on the left corner on the back of the book that is not used in the story. I think the one in the book of the two kids in those costumes is different. So it left me wondering why that kid has a telephone cord in his mouth!!!
Mod
I love that the story evolved from the author's collection of found photos. After I started reading, I was hoping that was the case rather than fitting the pictures into the story after the fact. I agree, some photos, like the boy in the bunny suit, seemed like a poor fit. It wasn't essential to the peculiar kids so it felt out of place. I should check out the author's blog, but it would be cool if he wrote short stories or flash fiction based on other pictures in his collection.
My favorite picture was Fiona with her crazy hair holding the chicken. She looks insane! haha. I would guess this picture is part of the group that was NOT altered, which has me wondering about the person who is actually pictured here.
I think that if you take the pictures away from the book the story itself would of not been very intriguing. it felt like the author relied too much on the pictures.
Mod
oooh that is good. Who is this person in this picture?
I'm a little more than halfway through the book, and I am really enjoying it. I was drawn first to the photos. I've done research on carnivals and freak shows in the early 1900's, and these photos reminded me of that era. I think Riggs has done a great job of weaving a story around the pictures. Great pick for this month's read.
Does anyone else feel a little bad for these people whose pictures were lost and now they show up in a novel? Maybe because the story is about WWII, but I keep thinking about all the lost artifacts stolen from the Jews and ending up with people that they don't belong to. It seems a little disrespectful--maybe not the carnival, creepy pictures. Those were posed to creep people out, but the snapshots.
Mod
Angie,I thought that too. I wondered if someone would see the pictures and recognize a great uncle or something like that and want money for it.
I really liked the pictures throughout the book, but I agree that sometimes it seemed like the text was made to fit the pictures. But they do work well together and helped create atmosphere.Some of them were rather creepy and I was afraid, lol, that the book was going to have post-mortem photography. :O Nothing like that thankfully, but what we got was creepy enough.
As for the cover, I think it's hard to come across the book at a store and not want to pick it up and flip through it.
The picture with the two clown kids was probably my favorite, but so many of them stand out.
I really like the photos, they feel necessary to the story to me. They make what Jacob's grandfather went through real, though he can't see it at the time. The photos, to me, make the book take on a quality like a graphic novel, where they help tell the story. I thought it was necessary they be near the text to which they related.My favorite photo is of the two "clowns" with the one with a long phone cord in his mouth...
Mod
Annalisa wrote: "Does anyone else feel a little bad for these people whose pictures were lost and now they show up in a novel? Maybe because the story is about WWII, but I keep thinking about all the lost artifacts..."If the photos are as old as they look the people may not be around anymore and they are forever immortalised which I bet they never imagined:)
I actually loved the photos, even if they were creepy, i think that every picture has a story and i think that is the main reason why they were inside in the book.
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