What does everyone here think of magic realism? Is it horrendously self-indulgent crap? On its way out? The most awesome thing to ever happen to literature? Only good in Spanish? I've been experimenting with it for nearly a year now, and I'm still not so sure what I think of it. I like writing it in English enough, but part of me feels like its not true magic realism if not in Spanish.
Hi Liz. Welcome to our site. When you say 'magic realism' are you refering to what we commonly call 'fantasy fiction', eg. 'The Lord of the Rings', 'Harry Potter', 'The Narnia Chronicles', etc.?
No, I mean works such as 'One Hundred Years of Solitude,' 'The Other,' 'Like Water for Chocolate.' Basically they take place in realistic worlds, but have elements of magic in them that the characters treat as normal.
Hola Liz I agree it is better in Spanish, the cultural context and language lends itself well to the style. I love all the books you've mentioned I have only read 100 yrs in both languages the other books in english only....so my opinion is based on limited knowledge... but I know what I like. I'd love to read a sample of your writing. Welcome.
I think magical realism combined the fun and possibilities of fantasy with the surface credibility of literature. But writer than can create a book that is succssful as fantasy and literature gets my respect.
yeah!!! hands up!! me!! i LOVE IT! seemingly normal setting, with magic that is taken as normal... perfect, brilliant stuff. thats a nice name as well, magic realism. yes. me.
Funnily enough, Keramptha writes like that, too and he does a perfect job of it in good ol' English. The spelling might be very liberal, but all the ideas are ethereal, original, and eclectic. I'm sure that if one of these ever so busy publishers with their heads up their arse recognized our Keramptha's talents, we'd all be going: "Bloody 'ell. I knew that writer." Definately one of the most original, fresh, and non-egotistic persons I've met. Sometimes we miss the point to his stories, because we're not on the same wavelegth, but you should see some of his work in here. Keramptha writes the way he feels, not for the mainstream paperback crowd.
ahhh!! thats what i need... praise! [i was neglected child!!] the 'he' you speak of.. is a 'she' though. I hope you have no conditioning of female inferiority in your marvellous psyche though scorpion. yes, sorry about the liberal spelling, im learning to type. and im so inspired to write now... I think white scorpions writing is pretty twisted as well. he writes in layers..unfoldments and blooming ways...hidden parts escaping and blowing past your mind in shimmering waves...blink and you miss them, but put your soul in his works and it'll come out the transformer in a radical new emergence of 'eureka'
and if its 'self indulgent' then more please!! i think its more about nself exocism.. you can get all your fantasies out there...expelled, and done with... which has to be done..otherwise you'll be swimming in your head like a fish in the ocean... better to share i reckon!
Sorry, Keramptha. Be you a he or a she, you are and always will be my friend. Happy New Year, dude-ette! Keep writing.
If I'm right on what you mean, I don't know if I've read any. I'm told Margaret Atwood wrote some, but I'm not sure. Based on the definition alone, I can see how I might not like it. I struggle to relate to most literary characters when there isn't anything completely unexplained going on. The best fiction I've read has always observed "normal" human reactions to change/adversity. Magic realism sounds kind of like the opposite of that.
I've heard of her, but I wasn't sure who she is, so I looked her up on Google. Very bright lady, but I must confess that this all sounds like high-brow stuff. Can anyone explain in simple terms what it's all about? It sounds intriguing, but I'm still confused. Is it philosophy?
The unexplained has to be ostensibly magical. So contemporary fantasy but with a more literrary, real life feeling.
In very simple terms, adult fairytales. The Margaret Atwood one I heard described as magic realism (I was told) contained someone dying because her daughter tore her wedding dress, or something like that. It is pretty much as was said: magical elements brought into an unmagical context. For some reason, I always end up thinking of the film Big.
Is it something like Monty Python then? For example, that guy in Monty Python who wants to have a baby, but can't because he doesn't have a womb. So they all end up campaigning for his right to want to have babies, and John Cleese asks:"What's the point?"
Not exactly, because there wasn't anything in that that actually couldn't happen. It's hard, I can't really think of specific examples. I seem to remember there being a reference to Magic Realism in "The Book Group" (great TV show if you've seen it) where they were talking about a book where a guy was deliberately not eating and living rough in Oslo. Here's the Wikipedia.org definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism It clears it up a bit but a lot of it seems to refer to what magic realism isn't, rather than defining what it is. EDIT: In their list of examples they mention Will Self, who I would agree regularly fits neatly into the category. Check out "Great Apes" or "Cock And Bull" if you want a good example of English magic realism.
Thanks, Self Control. I looked up the address you gave and found this list of some keypoints that distinguish this style of writing. Source of quote:Wikipedia Encyclopedia: I must say this is all quite new to me, so I'm glad that Liz brought it up. I think, however, that a book which fits all these categories existed over a thousand years ago, in every church of Europe.
