Thursday, August 11, 2011

ELEMENT OF FEAR

 “It was a dark and stormy night”…
Ah…how many scary yarns has that classic first line inspired?
But what about:
“It was a dark and formidable body of water”
Huh?
Don’t scoff…
While reading Duma Key by Stephen King…
I'm amazed how he envisioned something scary in the Gulf of Mexico.
(that’s Stephen King though at his best, isn’t it?)
But throughout literature, scary beasts in the water…
Have been spawned in the mind of other great authors, e.g.
Jaws by Peter Benchley—a scary shark from the Atlantic…
Moby Dick by Herman Meville—a mean whale of a tale…
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne…
The Seven Voyages of Sinbad from Arabian Nights
Well, you get the idea…
They all envisioned “something” scary in the water.
And I’m sure there are many more authors and stories…
That I just can’t think of now.
And obviously, there are many more authors…
Who write about other bodies of water…
That are not scary at all…
Perhaps something romantic, no?
I just can’t think of any now.
Can you?
Or…
Have you written a novel where a body of water...
Is a key element?

Always, Em-Musing 

2 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

Yep. My favorite book of all time, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. Google it and you'll find all sorts of stuff about her water symbolisms :o)

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I like how in "Throw Momma from the Train" they used the word "sultry".