War! Again!
Can we not tell a story without war? Without conflict? Without bloodshed?
I picked "Hollow Kingdom" because it was supposed to be funny. A book about human apocalypse told by a crow raised by a human. And it was funny at first - the witty bird's amusing perspective on human lives, Tinder dating, and mending broken hearts with Cheetos and whiskey. I could have even swallowed the reason for human extinction: a virus that spread through screens — phones, computers, tablets, TVs, and even electronic ad displays. With some imagination, it can even be taken as a metaphor.
It is much tougher to digest that human extinction manifests in turning them into zombies. But, OK, since the main characters are animals and humans came into play only occasionally, as an added danger to our heroes, even that I could forgive.
But war? Here’s the plot: with the humans as a top predator out of the picture, the wild animals descend into towns, claiming the territory and food. The birds unite (insert the eyeroll here) and decide to free the domesticated animals, i.e. pets still trapped in locked houses across Seattle (that's where it's all playing out), to fight off the wild beasts.
Really?
The story could have gone in so many different, entertaining, hilarious ways! And yet, the author’s mind seems to be incapable of solving a plot knot without war!
It’s so disappointing! Almost the whole of our history and a large portion of literature is filled with wars, conquest, tyrannical kings and other rulers. Having lived through two wars, it’s the very last thing I want to read about or watch. And that’s my conundrum — I watched 80% of all existing cooking, home improvement, and travel shows, and I am frankly tired of them. Anything else inevitably leads to some sort of violence. Historical programmes? Kings, empires, conquest, war. Action movies? Conflicts, murders, and car chases. Oh, and saving the world by annihilating the bad guys. Mystery? It seems the best we can come up with is who killed whom? Even drama and romance often revolve around some kind of abuse.
Isn’t the real world scary enough as it is, full of wars, genocides, dictators, tyrants, and idiots as decision-makers? With violence all around us, I get the old adage “write about things you know”, but don’t we also know how to love, laugh, ache, and cry in everyday life? Maybe — just maybe — if we keep literature and art less bloody, if we replace wars with love, laughter, and — why not? — drama (without blood!) in the stories we tell, maybe those who come to rule in the future won’t have war as the first thought when facing a challenge.
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.