"The notion that such persons are gay of heart and carefree is curiously untrue. They lead, as a matter of fact, an existence of jumpiness and apprehension. They sit on the edge of the chair of Literature. In the house of Life they have the feeling that they have never taken off their overcoats."
- James Thurber, My Life and Hard Times

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A post-script of sorts

In my last post, I listed the kinds of acts that separate the people with a shred of decency from the people whose decency is in shreds, the latter kind being a kind of villain I like to write. In my post, I listed the following examples:

They could return the twenty-dollar bill that has just fallen from the stranger's pocket, or they could keep it themselves. They could call 9-1-1 when they see the man being beaten, or they could go back to their work. They could help the old lady on to the bus and give up their seat, or they could push her under the wheels and ride comfortably.

At the time, I wrote that last example as a stretch of the imagination. I mean, really, what kind of person would do that?

I'd like to introduce Exhibit A.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2010/11/16/woman-charged-in-metro-train-track-death/

Reviewers talk about how far-fetched plots might be, but, really - is there anything a human WON'T do?

1 comment:

Enid Wilson said...

I think most murder or mystery writers craft their stories with a grain of truth. Sometimes, it's just the reviewers who didn't get the plot.

My Darcy Mutates

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