Damn, Brandon. When are you going to publish a book of these critical essays? You are a great theologian as well as an astute reader. I got chills at the "moment of grace" turn in your argument. Maybe the difference between these moments and the cheap redemption arc is that grace is not self-flattering, to the reader or the character. It's just an open window in hell. A sudden, terrifying and hopeful expansion of what is possible.
This is great, although I think succession does think about this - that its characters are driven by personal grievance and self-interest and this prevents them from taking any moral action in a larger sense. I’m waiting not for their redemption exactly but for a basic recognition of reality which may of course never come. There were glimmers of it with Shiv’s “things do happen, Rome” at the end of the latest episode, but the world where things do happen is v much elsewhere for them. Of course it’s where we live and in that sense we’re part of the moral framework, I guess.
This is excellent. And it made sense to me of the emotional dullness of some contemporary novels, as though feeling were so terrifying that we can't even bear to encounter it in fiction.
Brilliant, as always. I think one of the reason the Ferrante Neapolitan Novels are so good is because they contain so much of evil. Evil people, yes, and also evil forces (fascism on the rise in Italy, etc.) I am curious where you think the concept of an "antagonist" fits into all of this. And if you also feel antagonists are lacking in a lot of contemporary fiction -- or perhaps the idea of having an antagonist or a villain in fiction is an oversimplified approach?
I think it’s also Hollywood/TV indoctrination that leads us to expect redemption as a habit. I just read the book, Imitation of Life, by Fannie Hurst, after watching both movie versions (only research duty makes the effort of reading it worthwhile, it’s so long and heavy and chock full of objectionable words and moments), and the redemption the two movie adaptations attempt to bestow on two major characters is not there at all. I will admit to feeling the blow after becoming used to the movie endings (they were movies that came on the TV so many times when I was a kid that I internalized credibility in their structure till I was in my 50s).
Thank you, Brandon, for a wonderful read. So helpful to me as a writer. I second Jendi’s request for you to publish a book of your essays. I just registered for your upcoming talk at the DC Cleveland Park Library.
I think spouse could understand that I would read Richard Hasen's article "What Would Happen If The Succession Fire Played Out In Real Life" (Slate) because it was a story about an election. But I have no interest in telling spouse about these awful people and the awful ways they treat each other in private. It isn't any less gossip if it is about (fictional) people you know only through the TV screen. I don't know what redemption would mean for them either. It may mean no more than psychological healing from trauma for some of the people who watch this show. It may also be in the sort of thing that can and does get published that even if some evil thing does happen, it is only interpretable to the readers as trauma to the main character that they know they are supposed to root for.
Especially funny reading this on my umpteenth time through Gideon the Ninth
Damn, Brandon. When are you going to publish a book of these critical essays? You are a great theologian as well as an astute reader. I got chills at the "moment of grace" turn in your argument. Maybe the difference between these moments and the cheap redemption arc is that grace is not self-flattering, to the reader or the character. It's just an open window in hell. A sudden, terrifying and hopeful expansion of what is possible.
This is great, although I think succession does think about this - that its characters are driven by personal grievance and self-interest and this prevents them from taking any moral action in a larger sense. I’m waiting not for their redemption exactly but for a basic recognition of reality which may of course never come. There were glimmers of it with Shiv’s “things do happen, Rome” at the end of the latest episode, but the world where things do happen is v much elsewhere for them. Of course it’s where we live and in that sense we’re part of the moral framework, I guess.
This is excellent. And it made sense to me of the emotional dullness of some contemporary novels, as though feeling were so terrifying that we can't even bear to encounter it in fiction.
I read this whole thing out loud in the bathroom mirror and fricking loved it
Brilliant, as always. I think one of the reason the Ferrante Neapolitan Novels are so good is because they contain so much of evil. Evil people, yes, and also evil forces (fascism on the rise in Italy, etc.) I am curious where you think the concept of an "antagonist" fits into all of this. And if you also feel antagonists are lacking in a lot of contemporary fiction -- or perhaps the idea of having an antagonist or a villain in fiction is an oversimplified approach?
This is superb. Grace = self-knowledge without self-pity or narcissism?
Would love to see another Los Angeles date on that list.
The whole "Shabbat Reading List" email from Jewish Currents was about Succession and Aparna Gopalan could not make herself care about it either.
I think it’s also Hollywood/TV indoctrination that leads us to expect redemption as a habit. I just read the book, Imitation of Life, by Fannie Hurst, after watching both movie versions (only research duty makes the effort of reading it worthwhile, it’s so long and heavy and chock full of objectionable words and moments), and the redemption the two movie adaptations attempt to bestow on two major characters is not there at all. I will admit to feeling the blow after becoming used to the movie endings (they were movies that came on the TV so many times when I was a kid that I internalized credibility in their structure till I was in my 50s).
when will you publish an essay collection? these occasional Substacks are for all time...🙌🏻
this makes me think of John Gardner's On Moral Fiction.
Thank you, Brandon, for a wonderful read. So helpful to me as a writer. I second Jendi’s request for you to publish a book of your essays. I just registered for your upcoming talk at the DC Cleveland Park Library.
I am with you, Brandon.
Mystery and manners, hard to beat, especially in the absence of God. There has to be something!
Did you ever read People of the Lie by M. Scott Peck?
I'm wondering where Jane Austen's Emma fits into this conversation. Part 2! :)
I think spouse could understand that I would read Richard Hasen's article "What Would Happen If The Succession Fire Played Out In Real Life" (Slate) because it was a story about an election. But I have no interest in telling spouse about these awful people and the awful ways they treat each other in private. It isn't any less gossip if it is about (fictional) people you know only through the TV screen. I don't know what redemption would mean for them either. It may mean no more than psychological healing from trauma for some of the people who watch this show. It may also be in the sort of thing that can and does get published that even if some evil thing does happen, it is only interpretable to the readers as trauma to the main character that they know they are supposed to root for.