Books

(Originally posted on February 15, 2010)


Books! I read 'em all the time, sometimes into the wee small hours.


I read books by Pratchett (got 'em all n read 'em more than once), Holt (very funny), Deavers (nice twists n turns) and a host of others too.


But I have come to learn that there are only three basic story lines that authors follow.  Oh, I know they all write about different things, but they all follow three principle themes.


- Boy meets girl


The 'Boy' meets the 'Girl' of his dreams and rather than just getting down to the nitty-   gritty, the 'Girl’ plays hard to get, forcing the boy to prove his love via some sort of adventure/task.

- Hero and villain

The good guy saves girlfriend/friends/country/world by facing and defeating a bad guy who inexplicably wastes every opportunity to kill the hero by taking just enough time to explain how he is going to kill said hero using an impressive technological method, wherein the hero comes up with an instant plan of how to kill the baddy and escape. 

note:  A villain could be anyone or thing.  Maybe even an inanimate object (obviously it wouldn't talk but something will pop up to help the hero-chappy)

- Jerk

This is sometimes a combination of the other two.  The 'Jerk' is the lovable fool who is the butt of all jokes, the lowest of the low and the least likely person that anyone would/could fall for.  But, low and behold, after a series adventurous mishap's the 'Jerk' finds out he's a damned site cleverer than everyone, including himself, thought he was and he wins the day and the girl!


There are, of course, a myriad of variations to these three themes, but they all follow very similar lines. Sometimes they cross and intertwine giving the reader the impression of uniqueness', but I assure you, they all are basically the same as the descriptions above. 

What, I hear you ask, is the point of this article?

And the answer is simply...

... I have no idea! It just popped into my head so I thunked about it then typed it.  That is how my head works ... or doesn't ... if you know what I mean. 

There should be a sign outside our house saying

        DANGER!  Man Thunking Inside