Parallel novels/literary spin-offs and fan fic

[LettersFromTatyana]

I came across this list of eleven great literary spin-offs.

http://flavorwire.com/191562/required-reading-10-great-literary-spin-offs

I admit to being a huge fan of these, which I'd always heard referred to as parallel novels (I'm assuming they are the same thing). I realize it's a cliche, but reading Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea together as a teenager changed my outlook on life, and as someone who read every Oz book as a kid, I loved Wicked.

But I have to admit that I'm confused about the difference between parallel novels and fan fic, which I've never read (unless you count several of the books on this list). Fan fic, seems to be brushed aside as silly (or combined with real life celebrities on lit); in contrast, Geraldine Brooks won a Pulitzer for March.

Anyone have thoughts? On the genre itself, the differences in reception, etc?

 

[PennLady]

I have heard of several of those books on the list but not read any. Perhaps I should. I've been pretty ambivalent about such things, I think. I've read Wicked and a couple of his other books, but I've stayed away from "sequels" to Gone with the Wind, Pride & Prejudice, etc. I don't mind if people write them, of course, but I'm satisfied with the original story.

Now, I've also read Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and enjoyed them a great deal. But those would likely fall under parody, not parallel or fan fic, I guess.

I've never been a fan of reading the "companion" or whatever books that go with Star Wars, Star Trek, Buffy, Dr. Who, etc. I've come around on it, though. I think I used to think it was lazy to use other people's characters like that, but I don't think that anymore. I guess I'm just fine with the original creator's story lines and don't feel the need to have more.

As I'm parsing it out now, it would seem I don't mind books that present an alternate perspective on the events of the original book. And I'm with Alan Moore, who said (wish I could remember the quote) that being able to take characters that are now in the public domain lets people keep things fresh. Plus I'd imagine it may make people curious about the original, which is a good thing.

 

[Kurokami]

Like with any other form of entertainment, I don't think genre determines quality. There are good parallel novels and bad ones, the trick is finding the ones you enjoy. Personally, I agree with Pennlady, for the most part; the original stories stand on their own and I don't have any real desire to seek out continuations.

That said, I do write, and occasionally read fan fic, assuming it's well written. I think the difference in reception between fan fiction and parallel novels is the word "novel." There is a very low barrier of entry for fan fiction, since the internet makes it so easy to get it to other people. Meanwhile published novels imply a certain standard of quality, or at least that someone, somewhere, liked it enough to spend money on it. It's easier to take something seriously when it has a value associated with it.

As to my own writing, I barely consider it fan fic at all since, with the exception of a shared continuity and a couple of recurring characters my stories are all original characters in original settings doing their own thing. But I don't want to ramble on about that

 

[PennLady]

I think that the stories I've enjoyed have been the ones that are not continuations. Like Wicked, giving a perspective on the basic Oz story from the POV of a character that is just short of a "walk on" in the original. That's okay. But I don't want to know what Lizzy and Darcy did next (unless Jane Austen wrote it), for example.

 

[Stella_Omega]

The difference between fan fiction and a parallel novel is a publisher, and more importantly, the publisher's lawyers.

 

[LettersFromTatyana]

In my mind, sequels don't qualify as parallel novels. In fact, I don't think a single book on that list is a sequel, and I can't remember encountering a sequel on other lists.

In general, the parallel novel genre either retells the original story through the eyes of another person, often one who was marginalized or minor, or provides a prequel. This might be why I like them. I like the feeling of learning a character, and then having that character either smashed (Wide Sargasso Sea) or redeemed (Wicked) or filled in (March) or finally given their due (Penelopiad).

 

[LettersFromTatyana]

The difference between fan fiction and a parallel novel is a publisher, and more importantly, the publisher's lawyers.

In all seriousness, that's about all I came up with. That and the fact that fanfic is often a sequel, and is heavy on the sex.

 

[Stella_Omega]

In all seriousness, that's about all I came up with. That and the fact that fanfic is often a sequel, and is heavy on the sex.

the fanfic I read is heavy on the sex, that's for sure!

Ficcers write what's missing, in my experience. They write the motivations and conversations the original author didn't bother with, the women's roles that the author didn't bother with, they make the gay subtext crystal clear, they fill in the missing sex...

 

[baphemetis]

Not all fan fics are erotic in nature... just the ones on this site!

My favorite parallel novel didn't make it on that list: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon. It's a retelling of the Arthurian mythos through the eyes of Arthur's sister Vivian. It puts a feminist spin on the tales. It's my favorite version of the old King Arthur stories.

What about novels like the Sean Graham-Clarke books? I loved Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and his first book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was a big hit too.

I've gotten both my best and my worst feedback from fan fics. Many people praise my writing and how I manage to weave the sexual elements into the pre-existing story. Other people accuse me of "hijacking" someone else's creation and being unoriginal. It sounds like the haters are people who don't like fanfics, no matter what.

 

[PennLady]

Not all fan fics are erotic in nature... just the ones on this site!

My favorite parallel novel didn't make it on that list: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon. It's a retelling of the Arthurian mythos through the eyes of Arthur's sister Vivian. It puts a feminist spin on the tales. It's my favorite version of the old King Arthur stories.

I meant to mention MZB's books, b/c in addition to MoA, there was also her early one about the fall of Atlantis, and then the one about the Trojan War that focused on Cassandra. Darn, titles escape me right and left here. Grrr. She probably has more but it's been a while so I can't remember them.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

My beef with most fanfic is that they seem to be wish fulfillment using characters and situations someone else has developed ("I'd really like to see Kirk and Spock in bed together!"), and so they seem a bit self-indulgent and even ghoulish. But then, I don't know if I've ever read any fanfic that wasn't sexual.

Parallel novels are more a case of taking the original author's idea and running with it, developing it in ways that he or she might never have imagined. Like you have prequels and sequels, these are metaquels.

 

[Stella_Omega]

My beef with most fanfic is that they seem to be wish fulfillment using characters and situations someone else has developed ("I'd really like to see Kirk and Spock in bed together!"), and so they seem a bit self-indulgent and even ghoulish. But then, I don't know if I've ever read any fanfic that wasn't sexual.

Well,damn straight. Entertainment consumers, by definition are self-indulgent.

Since women like to see men in bed together, and since the entertainment industry hasn't seen fit to spend as much time and attention on that portion of what women like-- we take care of it ourselves.

Parallel novels are more a case of taking the original author's idea and running with it, developing it in ways that he or she might never have imagined. Like you have prequels and sequels, these are metaquels.

As does fanfiction-- even the sexual stuff. The only difference is, as I said before, one writer found a publisher, and the other didn't.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Oddly enough...

So a guy walks into a bar...

he really should have watched where he was going.