I recently thought of something else related to why one would prefer a “new” book to an old one. There’s a certain suspense involved in reading a work in progress. Waiting for the next installment, making guesses at what’s going to happen next, discussing your theories with your friends who are all at the same place in the story as you are, and so on, are all things that rarely, if ever, happen with old stories as intensely as they do with new stories. A message board I used to frequent had an extremely long-running discussion of Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” series that died shortly after the final book was published.
In other words, with new stories, you can give someone something to anticipate. Old stories tend to be well-known to the point where everybody already knows what happens, and the anticipation only lasts as long as it takes you to get from the beginning to the end.
A message board I used to frequent had an extremely long-running discussion of Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” series that died shortly after the final book was published.
Well, being a (former) Dark Tower fan myself, I think that’s not necessarily related to the bald fact that the series ended so much as how it ended...
Waiting for the next installment, making guesses at what’s going to happen next, discussing your theories with your friends who are all at the same place in the story as you are, and so on, are all things that rarely, if ever, happen with old stories as intensely as they do with new stories.
How much of this, do you think, is due simply to the fact that everyone is coordinated & equally ignorant due to sheer temporal necessity, and how much to the actual ‘new’ nature of releases?
I remember as a child I loved The Wizard of Oz, but I hadn’t the slightest idea that there were sequels. One day, browsing through the very disorganized school library, I found one. I was shocked, and from then on, every few weeks or months as I rummaged, I would find another one. I recall being as thrilled to find one (though out of order) as I think I would have if they were freshly released & bought by the librarian, though they were, gosh, at least 80 years old by this point?
Well, being a (former) Dark Tower fan myself, I think that’s not necessarily related to the bald fact that the series ended so much as how it ended...
I haven’t seen people talking about the new Battlestar Galactica series after it ended, either. Often, once “the answer” exists, people stop wondering what it is.
How much of this, do you think, is due simply to the fact that everyone is coordinated & equally ignorant due to sheer temporal necessity, and how much to the actual ‘new’ nature of releases?
Yeah, I think that’s what I’m getting at—you almost never get that kind of coordination when it comes to “old” works.
Yeah, I think that’s what I’m getting at—you almost never get that kind of coordination when it comes to “old” works.
I don’t think most people care so much about the suspense and discussing the next episode. People do discuss one-shot movies. But it’s important that they all watch them at the same time, so that they can time the discussion. Before about 1970 movies were re-released in the theaters and I think this was adequate coordination. I’m not sure why it stopped. VCRs are an obvious answer, but I think they stopped rather earlier. And movies get remade today, which I think it greatly inferior to re-release.
I haven’t seen people talking about the new Battlestar Galactica series after it ended, either. Often, once “the answer” exists, people stop wondering what it is.
This point is surely correct, but you again pick an unfortunate example—I’ve heard the ending of BSG was even worse then DT’s...
you almost never get that kind of coordination when it comes to “old” works.
Which is interesting, since there’s nothing stopping a group from just not reading each & every book after a set period, thereby reaping the same gains but without issues like, I dunno, the author dying after 20 years & leaving it incomplete. (cough Wheel of Time cough)
The fact that people never do this, even in private, but rather prefer to tear through the entire series at once, suggests to me that this communality isn’t worth much. (Aren’t book clubs famous for falling apart after a little while?)
Perhaps the fans are just distracting themselves from the agony of waiting for something they love so much & killing time; I knew, before & during the prequels, more than one Star Wars fan who just tried to ignore anything they saw related to SW so they couldn’t be bothered by the multi-year waits (out of sight, out of mind...) - they felt the itch you get when pausing a movie or show, or stopping in the middle of a book, but this itch would last for more than just a few minutes.
I recently thought of something else related to why one would prefer a “new” book to an old one. There’s a certain suspense involved in reading a work in progress. Waiting for the next installment, making guesses at what’s going to happen next, discussing your theories with your friends who are all at the same place in the story as you are, and so on, are all things that rarely, if ever, happen with old stories as intensely as they do with new stories. A message board I used to frequent had an extremely long-running discussion of Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” series that died shortly after the final book was published.
In other words, with new stories, you can give someone something to anticipate. Old stories tend to be well-known to the point where everybody already knows what happens, and the anticipation only lasts as long as it takes you to get from the beginning to the end.
Well, being a (former) Dark Tower fan myself, I think that’s not necessarily related to the bald fact that the series ended so much as how it ended...
How much of this, do you think, is due simply to the fact that everyone is coordinated & equally ignorant due to sheer temporal necessity, and how much to the actual ‘new’ nature of releases?
I remember as a child I loved The Wizard of Oz, but I hadn’t the slightest idea that there were sequels. One day, browsing through the very disorganized school library, I found one. I was shocked, and from then on, every few weeks or months as I rummaged, I would find another one. I recall being as thrilled to find one (though out of order) as I think I would have if they were freshly released & bought by the librarian, though they were, gosh, at least 80 years old by this point?
I haven’t seen people talking about the new Battlestar Galactica series after it ended, either. Often, once “the answer” exists, people stop wondering what it is.
Yeah, I think that’s what I’m getting at—you almost never get that kind of coordination when it comes to “old” works.
I don’t think most people care so much about the suspense and discussing the next episode. People do discuss one-shot movies. But it’s important that they all watch them at the same time, so that they can time the discussion. Before about 1970 movies were re-released in the theaters and I think this was adequate coordination. I’m not sure why it stopped. VCRs are an obvious answer, but I think they stopped rather earlier. And movies get remade today, which I think it greatly inferior to re-release.
This point is surely correct, but you again pick an unfortunate example—I’ve heard the ending of BSG was even worse then DT’s...
Which is interesting, since there’s nothing stopping a group from just not reading each & every book after a set period, thereby reaping the same gains but without issues like, I dunno, the author dying after 20 years & leaving it incomplete. (cough Wheel of Time cough)
The fact that people never do this, even in private, but rather prefer to tear through the entire series at once, suggests to me that this communality isn’t worth much. (Aren’t book clubs famous for falling apart after a little while?)
Perhaps the fans are just distracting themselves from the agony of waiting for something they love so much & killing time; I knew, before & during the prequels, more than one Star Wars fan who just tried to ignore anything they saw related to SW so they couldn’t be bothered by the multi-year waits (out of sight, out of mind...) - they felt the itch you get when pausing a movie or show, or stopping in the middle of a book, but this itch would last for more than just a few minutes.
Yeah… Maybe Harry Potter is a better one?
Brandon Sanderson is finishing up the series based on Jordan’s notes and other unpublished information he left behind.
Thanks, it’s been a while since I wasted a whole morning on TvTropes. Please link responsibly, people!
You’re welcome.