Just now I’m
reading a courtroom drama entitled The 7th
Canon, by Robert Dugoni. The narrative depends, in the main, on District
Attorney Gil Ramsey’s never plea bargaining a murder-one indictment. Ramsey
always seeks the death penalty. Always.
Two problems
here. Ramsey holds office in the State of California where the last execution
took place in 1984. Even worse, Ramsey is the elected District Attorney of San
Francisco, which vies with its neighbor, Berkeley, for the title of most
liberal city in the United States.
The 7th Canon isn’t a bad
book. Though not exceptional, the plot and the prose are reasonably compelling
and I’m certain to finish it. But the disconnect continues to nag me. Given
Ramsey’s position on the death penalty, how likely was he to win a city-wide
election in San Francisco? And given California’s general unwillingness to
carry out executions, Ramsey must have lost case after case.
I’ve never
believed in a willing suspension of disbelief. I think Coleridge got it wrong,
at least when the concept is applied to the novel. Novelists compel the
suspension of disbelief. A disclaimer appears on the front covers of our books,
not hidden but plain for all to see. In declaring our works to be novels or
fiction, we tell the reader, in the plainest language, that every word is a
lie, that nothing you read on these pages actually happened. And yet we hope
that readers will react as if the plot is unfolding before their eyes, as if
they are silent witnesses to real events.
Not every author
succeeds, of course, but the last thing a reader needs, including this one, is
a nagging disbelief that follows us throughout the book.
Or maybe not.
The 7th Canon has received
502 reviews on Amazon, averaging slightly more than 4 stars overall. I read the
first dozen and couldn’t find any that questioned the District Attorney’s
credibility. All apparently accepted the basic premise. They focused on the young-lawyer
protagonist and the priest-defendant, virtually ignoring Gil Ramsey. So I guess
the joke’s on me. As a writer, I try to get it right. As I consumer, I want the
plot details to be authentic. The average reader on the other hand, just doesn’t care.
I like your writing and share some of your perspective on some of the issues.I have been able to avoid exposing myself to the excessive media presence of Mr.Trump. Not having a television helps.(An exception is a twice annual visit to my oral hygienest, where as I lay in the chair, CNN or Fox News gazes down at my face from the ceiling, like a buzzard. Disengagement from the rising emotional frenzy and hysteria, for the purpose of emotional well being and to allow some necessary peace of mind is something I consider acceptable.The trick is to remain informed. The challenge is to maintain a peaceful equilibrium that allows me to function in the face of the frenzied onslaught, because being informed naturally leads me to reach a conclusion or take a stance,and it is often the arrival at that position which produces the distress. It is interesting what you said about the mirror.I think of those unfortunate people afflicted with anorexia. Their self perception causes them the most harm.
ReplyDeletePatricia - Unfortunately, being a news junkie, I lurch from hot to red hot to white hot rage as I watch Trump appeal to the worst elements in American culture. The blog helps me bleed off some of that heat. Thanks for the visit. Hope to see your again.
ReplyDeleteStephen,thanks for you response.I understand. Maybe it's like the bumper sticker; "If you're not outraged,you're not paying attention!".(Let's make mention of a different bumper sticker; "I brake for hallucinations").That was meant to be humorous... Seriously though, a lot of people are very scared and angry these days, feeling an existential threat. Not just perceived, but in many cases actual. Under such conditions and circumstances I think people will often embrace the most extreme, unthinkable ideologies, or remain idle as such perspectives are forced upon them and become accepted on a mass scale. Thanks for the invite to your blog, if I have something I consider of value to say I will most certainly revisit.
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