Some here know that I'm a sucker for audiobooks and that I like to read/listen to Grisham then and when. Now ... I 'obtained' one called THE INNOCENT MAN and it really shows how run of the mill these books are. Because, like, I made a mistake. The usual way to treat downloaded audiobooks that are split into multiple MP3s is: Join them. Convert them to .m4b files so the iPod will bookmark them. That is rather important for me because I often listen before sleeping and won't remember where I was the next night. Anyway, with this one I fucked up. It's 12 CDs. When I joined it, everything seemed to be in order so I converted and deleted the other files. Anyway, started to listen a few nights ago and something seemed wrong. I had mixed up the order somehow. The CDs were in the correct order, but the files were sorted from last to first on the individual CDs. Looks something like this: CD1 Track 4, CD 1 Track 3, CD 1 Track 2, CD 1 Track 1, CD 2 Track 5, CD 2 Track 4... Well. Guess what. I only noticed 5 hours into the audiobook. Sure, it seemed strange that a few events were built up to later but basically, it's no problem listening like that. Seems to me that he builds the whole story of building blocks that are somewhat exchangeable. It's rather hard to describe here but it's extremely weird that one can follow a book like that. It's like reading each chapter from to end to the beginning and the pieces still fit - because they are completely interchangeable. I urge you to try. I will, with another bestseller author. Is this the key to make millions writing?
So, do I understand correctly...the story makes sense even with the chapters out of order because the chapters are "modular," that is each chapter is more or less a self-contained unit? I suppose that makes sense to some degree. It's reasonable that authors construct their stories such that each chapter fulfills a specific, limited purpose. As long as the chapters aren't too mixed up, the reader (or listener, in this case) can still resolve the story. There's no reason that a novel MUST be told in exact chronological order (many aren't), but there will be problems with continuity (effects preceding causes, etc.) if the novel isn't purposely constructed that way. And, obviously, if it's a mystery the ordering of the chapters can have a big impact on the satisfaction one gets from the ending of the book: you find out whodunnit before the last few critical clues are provided! Is "modularizing" your writing the key to "making millions?" Who knows. But I can imagine it makes the process of constructing a coherent story much easier...
Yes, that's what I mean. Sure a few things are messed up (like people popping up seemingly at random), but the story still makes perfect sense. The key ... I don't know. But it sure must free up time to play golf. I mean - never thought about that, actually. Never realized it. The point is, there is no real cause and effect, no character development. To me it seems like there's some kind of chapter master plan that only gets filled with words. Or something, I don't know. It's hard to explain. Yet I'm sure that the things I write would be completely unreadable that way. Because I care. Grisham obviously doesn't. Then I gotta ask, who makes more money
