Retelling books...

[Anonymous]

...isn't it interesting that two of the "best books" in the past few years have been retellings? Demon Copperhead and James. The same for movies and television. Don't get me started on today's music. Have we run out of ideas?

[Anonymous]

Different people have speculated that there are a limited number of plots, although they may differ on what that number is.

Christopher Booker apparently narrowed the number down to 7 plot types. Here’s a Wikipedia page discussing his theory:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Different people have speculated that there are a limited number of plots, although they may differ on what that number is.

Christopher Booker apparently narrowed the number down to 7 plot types. Here’s a Wikipedia page discussing his theory:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots

I’ve also heard the theory that there are only two plots: (1) stranger comes to town, or (2) a person goes on a journey.

Of course, very direct retellings like OP referenced are slightly different, as they also use the very same characters as in other works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different people have speculated that there are a limited number of plots, although they may differ on what that number is.

Christopher Booker apparently narrowed the number down to 7 plot types. Here’s a Wikipedia page discussing his theory:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots

I’ve also heard the theory that there are only two plots: (1) stranger comes to town, or (2) a person goes on a journey.

Of course, very direct retellings like OP referenced are slightly different, as they also use the very same characters as in other works.

Very interesting! Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I appreciate these -- I think it's a good way to find new relevance in old stories.

[Anonymous]

it is called inter-textuality. It's not new.

[Anonymous]

Demon copperhead was awful. I only read it because I like the author's other books and I feel like that's why it made the best seller list

[Anonymous]

There's nothing new under the sun.

I'm typically not interested in retellings.

[Anonymous]

For run-of-the-mill fiction, sure, it's all retelling. The good stuff, true literature, is still very original. The problem is that it's buried, because publishers have been pushing pretty lame, social justice focused stuff for over a decade. If you know where to look, there's brand new literary fiction challenging many aspects of modernity. BTW, Demon Copperhead was trash, in my opinion, pure poverty porn designed to make coastal elites feel both superior and caring.

[Anonymous]

Isn't it crazy that we can keep retelling during historical timelines but not current? Like the Woman in White with identity mishaps would never fly in today's world. I could not help but think of that while reading the last time.

Cell phones and internets would ruin a lot of detective stories. I love historical fiction but I do adore a modern retelling. An author nimble enough to do that is truly talented.