I think “Memoirs of a Geisha” is a difficult piece to write a Fan Fiction about. It is probably difficult to get much humor out of this topic so writers usually stick with the serious type of writing. To do this properly a lot of knowledge about the culture is required. Authors who just watched the film will find it more difficult than those who read the book but both will still lack familiarity with this world. Even in Japan today only few people really know about geisha and especially how their kind lived and worked more than half a century ago.
On www.fanfiction.net, in the book section, “The Lord of the Rings” is the third largest category (42,947 stories), headed by “Harry Potter” (446,333 stories) and “Twilight” (135,966 stories), as of 8th March 2010. Among all those thousands of Fan Fictions in this group are quite few brilliant pieces but there are also some authors who seem to be less gifted. During reading some of them for my review I developed a personal dislike for short stories (the kind of story I am actually supposed to write now). There are some excellent one-shots but the decent ones are at least some thousand words long. Most of the shorter stories I read so far, showed that it is highly difficult to write a good Fan Fiction with just a few hundred words. They usually do not work well with this complex world of Tolkien’s books.
I also read some of the comments other users left for the writers. I must say that I found it rather disturbing how every story, even those I thought were quite poorly written, got reviews like “Awesome!”, “Are you a real author?” or “I love your story, please go on!” It often occurs, that in communities like such Fan Fiction sites, people are very nice to each other. They usually do not really leave bad critics; they would rather decide not to write anything at all. Friends are also not really helpful since they often just review in a very kindly manner.I will try to take this a bit more serious this time. Now to the reviews of the Fan Fics I chose:
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THE LORD OF THE RINGS
Category:
Humor
What is it about?
The Elf Caundir is a loyal servant of Lord Celeborn of Lórien. As a captain he is respected by his men and popular with everyone around him. Then one black day his good reputation is seriously in danger and he might even be forced to leave the Golden Wood forever and this all just because a sequence of truly unfortunate events.
My Review!
In this one-shot the author creates her own character called “Caundir”, the location and other persons like Lord Celeborn, Lady Galadriel and their daughter Arwen originate from Tolkien’s books. The scene takes place long before the Ring War (which is told of in “The Lord of the Rings”).
In the beginning Caundir is brought before his lord. The reader knows he did something wrong and is in serious trouble but for long it is unsure what actually happened. This way the story has a very good start, which made me more and more curious about the circumstances that caused such a mess. When we finally learn about all those things that happened to the captain at this ill-fated day the Fan Fiction becomes very funny and entertaining. I personally thought that the author went a bit too far with her fantasy. Maybe a little bit less misfortune would have been enough. However, the writing style is very smooth and I enjoyed reading it.
My Rating:
3* out of 5
Category:
Friendship
What is it about?
Before the battle in Helm’s Deep Legolas tells Aragorn that the situation is hopeless and that they all are going to die. Aragorn is not willing to accept defeat yet and if he has to die he wants to fall fighting as one of the brave worriers.
Later he is alone, thinking to himself. Was Legolas right? Was he just a fool to believe there could be victory? Legolas also reconsiders his own words. Maybe his friend was right. This must not be the end.
My Review!
The scene is an extension of a prospect from the books; the battle in Helm’s Deep (“The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers”) This Fan Fiction is a one-shot but divided in two parts. The first part portrays Aragorn’s point of view (though the author does not use first-person narrative). It is described how he changes his mind on the matter and starts to lose hope. In the second part the reader learns what Legolas thinks about what he said and that he is sorry for uttering words that hurt his friend so deeply. Some Elements of the conversation are repeated in this part of the story. That actually makes it a bit boring to read. The idea was good but I wonder if there would have been other ways to present it. I also think that the writer tried to explain the thoughts of both characters very detailed but in the end she just could not really find the right words to actually express different meanings. Instead she gave the same ideas over and over again. This Fan Fiction was slightly disappointing.
My Rating:
2* out of 5
Category:
Friendship
What is it about?
Aragorn remembers a time when he was still a child. Back then he and Legolas already were very close friends, even though the elf was by far older than him. One day after a long period of joy the prince had to return to his people. As a symbol of their friendship and to comfort the young Aragorn they decided to plant an apple tree.
My Review!
This one-shot takes place before the events described in “The Lord of the Rings”. Not much is known about Aragorns childhood in Rivendell, so this is a very nice theme to choose. I am not sure if Legolas and Aragorn already shared such a deep friendship when he was still a child but that is subject to the author’s fantasy. What bothers me a bit is the way she portrays the characters. For grown up men and warriors Legolas and Aragorn are described far too emotional, which makes then seem very feminine, a problem that is not too uncommon when female writers adopt stories about male characters.
Though this fact is very annoying to me, the ending was very beautiful. I can not exactly say why but the last three sentences made the whole story for me.
My Rating:
4* out of 5
Category:
Humor
What is it about?
After they spent a night out drinking Legolas and Aragorn are still not really themselves. Both badly intoxicated they return to Rivendell where Legolas has to explain to Lord Elrond how a banana could cause so much trouble.
My Review!
I guess it is a matter of taste whether a reader likes it or not but I personally did not enjoy this Fan Fiction too much. Maybe the story would be really funny if it was not about characters from “The Lord of the Rings”. I do not mind humorous pieces about Tolkien’s works but in this one Aragorn and Legolas are portrayed very much out of character. The whole idea about them drinking wild and then starting a fight over a banana (Are there bananas in middle earth? Who knows) makes them look very silly. Also the writing style of the author is not very refined and a bit plain.
My Rating:
1* out of 5
Category:
Family/ Friendship
What is it about?
After his wife Celebrían left Lord Elrond of Rivendell to seek healing in the Undying Lands, the elf’s heart suffers. He is almost drowning in despair and grief. When it is time for the annual Gift Night, a feast for the elves to celebrate the returning light, Elrond can’t find any joy without his beloved and mother of his three children. However, a present that Celebrían had left for him, her sons and the daughter Arwen finally helps him to overcome this sorrow.
My Review!
Tolkien tells in his books how Celebrían (daughter of Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel of Lórien) traveled from Rivendell to the woods of her parents. On her way she and her retinue were ambushed by orcs. The Lady was so badly injured that back in Rivendell not even Lord Elrond could heal her wounds entirely. So she traveled into the West for healing and sanctuary.
In this very well written one-shot the author describes Elrond’s feelings after his wife left. I enjoyed reading a very emotional story about a male character, which did not let him seem ridiculously feminine. Very well done.
After having so much heartache and pain in the Fan Fiction it was also quite refreshing to have an ending with a “happy touch”.
My Rating:
5* out of 5
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MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
What is it about?
Iwamura Ken’s wife knows about his interest and eye for beauty. She knows that he has a very intimate relationship with the geisha Sayuri, his mistress. Too often his side of the bed stays cold. She knows where he spends his nights but there is nothing she can do. She stays alone with her thoughts and her longing for love.
My Review!
This Fan Fiction tries to show the life and the feelings of those wives whose husbands rather seek the company of geisha or mistresses than the company of their spouses. However this matter is very complicated. I am not sure whether it is so easy to translate our western thoughts to those of the women of Japan in the 50’s. There is quite a bit ofcultural discrepancy and for someone who did not get to know this society oneself it is probably highly unlikely that one understands the nature of the people well enough.
This Fan Fiction might be a good idea but I cannot agree with the way the wife’s thoughts are only seen through our, western, eyes.
My Rating:
2* out of 5
What is it about?
This is the story of the young Hatsumomo; how she grew up, how she became a successful geisha and how one day she lost everything.
My Review!
So far (8th March 2010) the author released 6 chapters of this story. It concentrates on the early life of the character Hatsumomo from Arthur Golden’s book “Memoirs of a Geisha”. Hatsumomo is indeed a very interesting character and a great base for agood story. The first chapter is not a perfect start but certainly good enough to make the audience read on. From the second chapter on, the plot advances in a very positive way. The Fan Fiction gets better and better but still shows some imperfections from time to time.
The only fact that was slightly disturbing was the description of kimonos. The Japanese society is very organized and exact. Traditional items like a kimono or other accessories worn by geisha are never arbitrary, nor random. Everything from color to pattern depends on occasion and rank (and other aspects). The authors tended to be a bit too imaginative with all this.
My Rating:
4* out of 5
What is it about?
Nobu desires Sayuri and wanted to become her Danna but now she is out of reach. This was the second time he loved and a second time he tells himself that it was a mistake.
My Review!
In this one-shot the author explores Nobu’s thoughts. She writes about his past – the war, his first love – and she shows how this influences his life in the present. Nobu is portrayed as a character full of pain and mistrust. When he allows himself to love a second time he ends up disappointed again.
The writing style is flowing and easy to follow. It is an interesting point of view the author presented here.
My Rating:
3* out of 5
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THE LEGEND OF ZELDA
Category:
Tragedy
What is it about?
After Link saved the world once again he loses the most precious thing he possessed. During his long and hard quest he grew fond of this little creature called Midna, a princess from the Twilight Realm. When he is finally able to seal the door to the Twilight world which brought so much evil to his lands Midna has to return home and will probably see Link no more.
The hero is so desperate that he even wants to kill himself.
My Review!
This Fan Fiction is related to the game “The Legend of Zelda – Twilight Princess” for WII and Gamecube. I think this is a very dark way to think of an epilogue for this story. During the game nothing indicates love between Link and Midna, still this is a very popular topic with Zelda-Fan Fiction writers.
Anyway a Link who thinks of suicide is a very strange idea to me….
My Rating:
2* out of 5
Category:
Humor/ Parody
What is it about?
It is Monday. What a bad day to rescue a princess! Whatever Link does it goes horribly wrong.
My Review!
In this story Link is not a boy but a girl. I personally think that changing the gender of the main character does not really do anything to the plot in this case; things might have just stayed the way they were. One comment says “The best piece of writing ever”. I would not go so far but it was still pretty entertaining and funny.
My Rating:
3* out of 5
Well-considered reviews Susann. I like the coverage of the three different types in the introduction.
ReplyDeleteThank you! (^_^)
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