I hate being able to recognize the theme of books. If I can recognize your book is about the strength of friendship before I finish it, it just completely nullifies any impact the message would have on me.
Here’s the thing though, I’m desperate for a message. Give me a book that will sneak it in. A book you intended to read just for fun, and felt like reading just for fun until the end, but you also took a little message from it – something simple and positive.
Like Harry Potter made me more adventurous and take risks like I’m the main character. It made me care more about having close friends and being okay with them being a little weird. I didn’t realize this impact it had on me until years later. I need something that will have a similar effect now even as a well read adult.
The bridge between the stimulating themes in classics and the applicable themes of ya fantasy books.
by Radiant_River7274
4 Comments
Hmm, maybe give *Cat’s Cradle* by Kurt Vonnegut a try.
The Summer That Melted Everything
Ok, “I’m desperate for a theme, but make it clinically subliminal” is a wild ask.
Try out some works by Ken Liu. He has said that he really makes sure not to try to tell the readers what message they should take from his work. He just presents it and then accepts that they might interpret it in ways he might not even like. For example the short story collection The Paper Menageri and other stories.