I found a slim volume on the shelves of the SFSU library which was a short (about 80 pages) analysis of Dick Francis' work. I would assume that it was someone'e thesis, but it was way too short - and too comprehensible!
Anyways.
It made much the same point, that Francis creates the same character over and over again (single male, usually very talented in one specialized area, often (but not always) alienated from a significant chunk of his family) and then throws 'em into an entertainingly dangerous situation where, more often than not, their specialized knowledge helps solve the mystery and/or save their bacon. Absent fathers tend to feature in their history, but not always. At the end of the book, they have solved the mystery and (usually) resolved their estrangement from family and/or found their True Love as a karmic reward.
"By gum, they're right!" I thought, and that by no means stopped me from reading the books. Dick Francis (or perhaps I should say his wife and later his son) had a nicely deft way of presenting very likable characters - they were always what pulled me in. After all, I left the horsey phase behind me YEARS ago... ;)
It's like watching a favorite show. You know pretty much how the story is going to go, but the journey is as enjoyable as the destination.
I quite often recommend him to role-playing gamers who are just starting out and wondering how to make a character interesting and engaging without being *too* silly. ;)
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Date: 2012-08-27 02:26 am (UTC)Anyways.
It made much the same point, that Francis creates the same character over and over again (single male, usually very talented in one specialized area, often (but not always) alienated from a significant chunk of his family) and then throws 'em into an entertainingly dangerous situation where, more often than not, their specialized knowledge helps solve the mystery and/or save their bacon. Absent fathers tend to feature in their history, but not always. At the end of the book, they have solved the mystery and (usually) resolved their estrangement from family and/or found their True Love as a karmic reward.
"By gum, they're right!" I thought, and that by no means stopped me from reading the books. Dick Francis (or perhaps I should say his wife and later his son) had a nicely deft way of presenting very likable characters - they were always what pulled me in. After all, I left the horsey phase behind me YEARS ago... ;)
It's like watching a favorite show. You know pretty much how the story is going to go, but the journey is as enjoyable as the destination.
I quite often recommend him to role-playing gamers who are just starting out and wondering how to make a character interesting and engaging without being *too* silly. ;)