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Originally Posted by Dr. Akagi
I can't disagree with the above. And it makes me sad, because it makes Umineko just another "serialized piece of pulp fantasy" on the block, when it clearly could have been so much more.
I believe it was Gilbert Adair who proposed a theory that the real source of the reader's tension as he approaches the final pages of the mystery novel is not that he (the reader) is afraid his speculations would be proven wrong, but instead his fear that the author is incompetent and may perform some kind of asspull. In other words, the reader is not rooting for himself or the detective, he is rooting for the author to surprise him with his "magic", to prove his competence.
And I was really rooting for R07.
In my time I've read 65 Christies, 15 Stouts’, several Carrs’ and Queens’ and countless others mystery novels, be they Golden Age or not. I've been always fascinated by the mystery genre.
But you know what? My favorite author of all time would probably have to be one Philip K. Dick, an American writer of "serialized pieces of pulp fantasy", so to speak. During his lifetime he even attempted to write a Golden Age inspired mystery novel, based on a certain Christie novel (you may easily guess which one). The novel is called "Maze of Death". Needless to say, it turned out as just another "piece of pulp fantasy". And the author died in poverty and relative obscurity, but that's another story.
Funny thing is, all the works of Dick has been posthumously reevaluated and received universal critical acclaim. He was the first "pulp writer" whose works were officially included in the American Canon, so to speak, and published by The Library of America.
Dick's style was spotty at best, his plots were pulpy to the max, his endings either contrived or plain stupid. At the same time, many people, professional writers included, consider him a genius. As for me, I'll take a book of Dick over Christie any day (and I love my Christies, yes I do), because I consider Dick a far superior writer. So why is that?
On the surface level, that is because he's the master of the plot-driven narrative. His plots are complex, multi-layered and endlessly satisfying (that, unfortunately, does not apply to his endings). In them, parallel realities conflate, multiple secret conspiracies interlock, double/triple agents abound, and most importantly, paranoia runs amuck.
But that would be just pulp, as interesting to read as it is. What truly elevates Dick to superstardom in his field is his ability to make profound statements about the human condition using his limited "pulp artist" skills. And boy does he deliver on that one!
The penultimate chapter of Ubik defines existentialism better than all of Sartre's and Camus' works combined. Ubik on the whole is dealing with the hopelessness and loneliness of the human condition far better than serious works supposedly written on the subject.
The 10th chapter (the scene in the police department) of "Do androids dream of electric sheep?" is full of paranoia so palpable that it's, for the lack of a better word, uncanny. I've never ever felt so strong an emotion from words written on paper, no, scrap that, from any medium be it music or motion pictures (and I consider music to be far superior to literature in general). That is genius, right there. And that is "merit" for you.
The problem with R07 is that he clearly aspires to do something along the same lines as Dick, but unfortunately he is nowhere close now. But he has potential, and that's why he pisses me off with his every asspull, not because he's a bad mystery/fantasy/romance writer (Dick was awful at those too, for that matter). It’s because I believe I can see what he is trying to accomplish there and I wish him the best of luck, really. He's clearly ambitious, his strengths as a writer lie mostly in the plot development and narrative gimmicks department and he clearly is THE master of mindfuck if i know one. That's why I had high hopes for him. That’s why I’m slightly broken-hearted now. And to write him off as "just another crazy Japanese hack writing serialized shit for money" is doing the man a disservice.
But maybe it’s just me.
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It's not just you, I feel the exact same way. And you were right, it was Gildeon who wrote that the tension comes from wondering whether his time was well worth it or not. He wrote it as an article for The Guardian, I believe.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006...agathachristie
Here it is, in case anyone wants to read it. I certainly recommend it.
As for your question of how people are enjoying this series, I'd say that the answer is that they have grown so attached to the characters that they no longer care about the actual story or tension. I personally only legitimately enjoyed one character in the series, and that is Will.
Partially because he has the same first and last name as me and I'm an egomaniac, but also because throughout episode 7, he was the embodiment of a true mystery fan. He used a combination of logic and his own powers to deduce the truth, puts the criminal down, and once confronted with a terrible solution, proceeds to protest that the story in front of him is not a mystery, but just the author's fantasy. His use of the Van Dine rules and their lack of efficiency really hit home for me. It was a mystery lover uselessly struggling to keep the story from being a melodramatic romance, knowing full well that it would be impossible.
That's how I felt throughout the series. Van Dine's rules weren't meant to be useful to solve the mystery, they were meant to show just how a mystery lover felt frustrated as he read the series. In that, I think Ryuukishi did really well. I can't hate him for making me angry like that, as that would be like hating Cameron for making me depressed with Titanic.
I understand where you are coming from. I think that Ryuukishi's aim was to make the events a total tragedy from every point of view, fantasy, romance, and mystery. He just lacked the skill to accomplish that.
The romance was the closest one to being a perfect tragedy. The writing and pacing made it still be pretty bad, but it was still the closest to being a well done piece of writing. The mystery tragedy was almost done in episode 7. Just a few more lines, showing a bit more of Will's fight against Bern, and it would have been great. The fantasy tragedy is terrible because it's not a true tragedy.
But I digress. What I think you and I are feeling about Umineko is not just a feeling of letdown as a mystery, but as a story.
The Umineko worshiping person might say "you should have seen that it wasn't a mystery!" but I'd argue that even letting the mystery slide, we still wouldn't be satisfied. Why is that?
Because we expected more. Not just as a mystery, but as a narrative. We saw glimpses of talent and expected it to shine through the ending. That glimpse of talent was nowhere to be seen in the ending. There was no sense of wonder, sense of amazement.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gildeon Adair
After all, he has invested a fair amount of time and energy in the book and he can't bear the prospect of its climax proving to be a letdown, either because it's not clever enough or because it's too clever by half.
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This doesn't just apply to a mystery. It applies to any long novel.
And to put it simply, Umineko was not clever enough.