Every time I see such a list on the internet, I ask myself "So, now, which of those basic plots is 'Master and Margarita'?", which leads to a conclusion that these lists bear a negligible amount of cognitive value.
Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
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Re: Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
#32I wonder if I can construct a Cantor-like diagonal proof that creates a definitively non-countable plot.
Here, the only tokens are rise and fall and they must alternate. So you can enumerate plots by picking a starting token and a number of alternations. Thus there are Aleph_0 plots. If you tracked multiple hero/protagonists then their interleavings could be uncountable.
Wouldn't multiple protagonists still be countable by the same proof that the rational numbers are countable?
Re: Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
#33Or maybe, every story has one of this one basic plot: (1) setup/intro/beginning, (2) stuff happens, (3) things somehow come to an end (for now).
Re: Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
#34I'd love to see someone drawing out the graph for A song of fire and Ice. Not only do you have several simultansus character arcs to draw out, but through the story arch they are also discontinuous and mix between being interwoven and separate in quite interesting fashions.
Re: Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
#35Every time I see such a list on the internet, I ask myself "So, now, which of those basic plots is 'Master and Margarita'?", which leads to a conclusion that these lists bear a negligible amount of cognitive value.
Following this typology: Man in the hole? The "Master and Margarita" isn't that complex with respect to its basic plot. The plot doesn't tell you much about the story though.
Re: Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
#36Every time I see such a list on the internet, I ask myself "So, now, which of those basic plots is 'Master and Margarita'?", which leads to a conclusion that these lists bear a negligible amount of cognitive value.
"Master and Margarita" seem to follow the BBC post's Oedipus storyline: Fall (rejection of the Master's novel, his desperation, separation from Margarita and internment into a psychiatric hospital), Rise (Margarita's offer from Satan brings her power over the elements, the Master finally gets out of prison and the couple gets back together) & Fall again when they are poisoned and die in disgrace both from Satan and God.
Re: Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I blame Joseph Campbell for ruining modern cinema with it's simplistic boring plots (like Star Wars's) where yet another hero battles some evil tyrant to save the world, universe or forest. There are so many more interesting, surprising stories to be told that leave the viewer with unresolved things to think about and captivating cul-de-sacs along the way. The 1970s films were full of odd, interesting plots and films…
Agreed. Hollywood wanted a formula and found one in Campbell. After reading that book or others about the "hero's journey" most mainstream films are quite bland. Having said that, there are only 7 notes in the major scale and look what that's done for us...
> Hollywood wanted a formula and found one in Campbell.
Insofar as there is a Hollywood formula, it's more Save the Cat than Campbell (or even the Writer's Journey), and the former does not derive from the latter.
Re: Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
#38My kids & I watched the Coen Brothers, "Burn After Reading" last night. I'd love to hear how anyone could argue that it fits any one of these.
It's multiple stories driven by the same set of events.
Osborne and Harry both have riches to rags stories of varying degrees. Things get progressively worse for the both of them, but Osborne wasn't doing so great to start with.
Kate and Linda have Cinderella stories of varying degrees. They both start off thinking they're getting what they want, things get worse for most of the story, and both end up with basically what they started out trying to get in the end.
Re: Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
#39My kids & I watched the Coen Brothers, "Burn After Reading" last night. I'd love to hear how anyone could argue that it fits any one of these.
Riches to rags for Cox (from CIA analyst to vegetable in hospital).
Icarus for Chad (from aspiring millionaire to dead in mere days).
Cinderella for Linda (from aspiring millionaire to everything going wrong, losing Chad, etc. to having her surgery paid in full by the CIA)
Re: Researchers analysed 1700 novels to reveal six story types
#40What about Waiting for Godot? The play in which nothing happens, two times.