The Mystery of Ephraim

We had all thought that knowledge could only be learned from textbooks or from other works of texts, and nothing from fiction. But then again, we had unknowingly set our minds squarely in the box. We need to break out of this block thinking; we need to break into the unthinkable. Sometimes it requires only a small effort; sometimes some sheer imaginations beyond the ordinary are needed.

Take for example, in the field of speculative fiction. A speculative fiction writer would need to accumulate vast amount of knowledge in order to write another work of fiction. The writer must be able to think hard, (broad and deep) through the various problems to make his or her fiction cohesive to work.

Heinlein was one of the greats of hard science fiction; he wanted to be scientifically accurate, and was well ahead of the scientific world. And Destination Moon seems a serious attempt to present a realistic version of how we might reach the moon, filmed nearly a decade before any human being could achieve orbit.

Another great speculative fiction writer, Arthur C Clark, was able to break his thoughts outside of what were established, and was well ahead of all the encyclopaedic store of knowledge of his time. His visions of space travel sparked the imagination of readers and scientists alike, and as the years passed, established that fiction is a reliable source of knowledge about the world.

His years of labour was infused with an enthusiasm that could be described as spectacular, engaging with sheer ambition and baffling for the future. His novels were works of fiction, but they introduced us to mind-expanding vistas and immense spans of time and space.

For sure we wouldn’t be able to know all the technical details, or how precisely things will come to pass. As Arthur Clark claimed, “No one can predict the future,” but he couldn’t resist drawing up timelines for what he called “possible futures.” Yes, about all the possibilities out there.

Of course most fiction writers would never be compared to Arthur C. Clark or Heinlein, but then again, to succeed in fiction it means that the writer has to accumulate vast amount of knowledge and work through the fiction progression for the story to work.

An obvious question to ask is whether some subjects are too sensitive or too traumatic that they can’t be documented in text. Or can a fictional story create a truer experience or imagination for an audience? In both instances, yes, they are. The process of novel writing is elaborate, sensitive and complex, but the general consensus is the same:  that fiction explores the minds, explode our imagination and open a range of sensitive possibilities that cannot be expressed in textbooks.

And it is precisely for these inexpressible issues that Over Mount Fuji is written.

Joel Huan, researcher and author (Over Mount Fuji in Amazon and Barnes&Noble)

~ by Joel Huan on August 10, 2009.

Posted in Fiction Writing
Tags: Disaster Community, Disaster Fiction, Fiction Writing, Mount Fuji, Over Mount Fuji