Tiffany’s Reviews > The Woman in the Woods > Status Update

What happened that you're reading a contemporary book?

Amirreza wrote: "What happened that you're reading a contemporary book?"

I was starting to get burnt out by reading too many classics at once, especially when I was picking them up one after the other without giving myself a break. So, I decided to switch things up by picking up something that would allow me to give myself a bit of a break.

It's a fun book! I am going to search around to see if I can find more spooky horror thrillers. Have you read 'The Turn of the Screw' by Henry James, Amirreza? I've been eyeing 'The Turn of the Key' which seems to be a retelling of James' short story- but I keep getting distracted by other books. I've picked up some more classics and am currently obsessed with Sherlock Holmes retellings.

Speaking of classics that I recently read. I've finished reading Jezebel's Daughter by Wilkie Collins. Has this one been translated into Persian? I recommend reading it. It's a fun book but I wish it was longer, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the characters- but for what it's worth, it's a great book.

Tiffany wrote: "Amirreza wrote: "What happened that you're reading a contemporary book?"

I was starting to get burnt out by reading too many classics at once, especially when I was picking them up one after the o..."

Nope. I don't remember having read anything of Henry James. So, do you like fanfictions?

Nope. Jezebel is not translated into Persian. But Moonstone is translated and I bought it some days ago. Thank you for recommending...

Maybe we can do a buddy read for The Moonstone? Even though we'd be reading in different languages, it should be fun, right? It's been a long time since I last read this book so I'd love both refreshing my mind and sitting down with a book written by one of my favourite writers.

I do love Fanfiction. You can find some really amazing writers who have or are currently writing Fic, including some very well known classic writers even though they most certainly didn't consider their work as Fic. The Divine Comedy, for example? I mean, it's a literal self insert fic where the author fanboys after Virgil.

I think in the professional sense, these sorts of things are called retellings? For example, Sherlock Holmes retellings, Fairy Tale retellings, etc.

Tiffany wrote: "Maybe we can do a buddy read for The Moonstone? Even though we'd be reading in different languages, it should be fun, right? It's been a long time since I last read this book so I'd love both refre..."

Ah... I wrote a long reply but it wasn't sent.
In summary:
Yes, we can read it together.
In my opinion, fanfiction is not ethical unless you ask permission from the writer of original book.
Divine comedy is not fanfiction because it uses real characters (as it is said by Bible), but a fanfiction uses characters that were created by a writer.
Dante was a little "I think I am true and the others are wrong. You will go to hell, I will go to heaven with my girlfriend and she'll guide me through the heaven".

I think we can agree to disagree with the issue about fanfiction being considered ethical vs. non-ethical. A lot of classic authors wrote fanfiction even though it wouldn't have been deemed this way. Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers series being one of them since he wrote his d'Artagnan romances after reading another work that claimed to be a biography (completely fictional, in my opinion) of the historical figure. All those Arthurian works that have been known to us throughout time could arguably be considered Fanfic as well.

Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory is a prime example of this since the author used canon characters that weren't created by him after he read French and German works that fell under the Arthurian/Matter of Britain umbrella.

And that's not to mention all the Biblical retellings I've read or am in the process of reading that would also fall under the umbrella of being Fanfic. Paradise Lost, for example?

If the issue here is using characters and a canon/universe that doesn't belong to the author, then I feel a lot of writers both past and present should be condemned, don't you? Virgil, Malory, and Dumas being amongst them?

Tiffany wrote: "I think we can agree to disagree with the issue about fanfiction being considered ethical vs. non-ethical. A lot of classic authors wrote fanfiction even though it wouldn't have been deemed this wa..."

Why do you think that D'Artagnan's biography was fictional?
Okay, I agree that Arthur (that handsome boy who took Excalibur out of the stone) wasn't a real historical figure. So, the fanfictions wrote based on such legends (fictional legends, not real ones) are fanfiction.
Anyway, I like some of the Arthurian adaptations, but I prefer those ones that are based on historical facts or historical assumptions, not based on fairy tales.
So, I approve writing historical fictions, but not non-historical fanfictions. For example it's really a dirty and uncreative job to steal the characters and the world of a story like Lord of the Rings or something like that and then write your own version of them and then publish and even sell it. It's like stealing someone's spouse, I think.
I haven't read Paradise Lost and don't have many information about it. I only know Milton wrote it and some Orthodox Christians (like some of those with whom you're friends ;)) are against it.
In summary, using a historical figure is permitted but using a completely fictional character is bad. Or at least if someone writes a fanfiction, he shouldn't publish it publicly. It's like having adultery with original writer's spouse without his/her permission.
So, Dumas is acquitted.

(Do you research only in the fields of bioarchaealogy? Do you need a collaborator?)