Friday, April 11, 2008

"Black Hole" and the Art of Negative-Space Storytelling

So upon reading the final pages of Charles Burn's creation, I realized that not only where there many things left unresolved, but many of the things that seemed relatively solid in concept began to unravel until there were nothing but questions swimming around in my head.. even so I highly enjoyed it, as is the case with many works of fiction that end in a similar fashion (that is with more questions than answers). Why is it that these stories have a greater effect on me than more western/traditional, Aristotelian-style stories?
After thinking about it and doing a little research, I have come to think that it is because I have subscribed to the artistic concept of "negative-space" (largely an East-Asian method, stemming from traditions such as Buddhism.. probably why I enjoy Asian storytelling so much) , which is essentially creating emotional impact and intellectual stimulation through expertly placed "holes" in the plot exposition that allow the reader to fill in the blanks with their own imaginations. Ever since I have been interested my mind has been partial toward stories that give me artistic freedom of interactivity with the plots and characters, and i can only assume it is due to my tendency toward abstract learning and my dislike of absolutes..
Overall, a very interesting and certainly originally-styled novel, and very honest with the emotions and psychological processes of adolescents, although not quite as excellent as Vendetta in my opinion. But what, I ask you, could compare to V? :) peace out.

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