Keeping the Stories Straight

Has nobody ever told some authors about the Suspension of Disbelief? That is, the willingness of the reader to believe, for the duration of a novel or play, that the story and characters are real. It usually works, unless something goes wrong. For example, something as simple as a name.

When I find a series I like, I tend to buy all of the books in that series and read them. I read them in order, one after the other. So it's very obvious to me when something goes wrong.

For example, in a series I recently finished, a neighborhood friend (mother of the protagonist's son's best friend) is finally referred to Kathleen (instead of "Todd's Mom") in one book. Two books later, she's raised from a minor to a major character in the plot. She also got a "name lift". Now she's Eileen.

In another series, the protagonist's son's friend, Tommy Daigle, is mentioned multiple times in the first three books in the series. The son just calls him "Daigle" most of the time. Friend Tommy even plays a major part in book three. He isn't mentioned in book four but he's back in the fifth book, sporting an unexplained name transplant. Suddenly, and mysteriously, he's Tommy Pockets.

Excuse me, but... Pockets?!?

I can almost understand the shift from Kathleen to Eileen. They are both two-syllable, Irish-sounding, women's names. They even rhyme. And, after all, the character was only mentioned once or twice before she took the stage as a major character for one book.

But shifting from Daigle to Pockets? For a frequently mentioned character? A character with a major part in a previous book?

What is the author thinking? Why is the author not thinking?

Meanwhile, I go from feeling like these people, and their lives and situations, could be "real" to suddenly focusing in on this one, wrong name. It strikes a bad chord and rather wrecks the mood...

Keeping the Stories Straight ( in category Books, Movies, Music ) - posted at Thu, 15 Dec, 16:52 Pacific | «e»