Pick A Picoult - Any Picoult
September 20th 2006 01:54
Image: www.jodipicoult.com
A few months back my book club decided to do something a little different – an experiment you might say. Instead of us all reading the same book, we all read a different book, by the same author. In this case, Jodi Picoult. She seemed a good choice as she was very popular, and she had enough titles to choose from. Now it probably goes without saying that we would come to some pretty predictable conclusions – similar writing style, character profiles, settings, etc. But the idea was not totally without merit, as we did come up with a few points that spread some light on popular writing techniques and why they work.
None of this was surprising to me as they are a pretty discerning and widely-read bunch, my book group, and they demand certain things from a good book. But as we delved a little further into the writing of Jodi Picoult we found a very clever author who knows exactly what her readers want, and gives it to them, without fail. We found that she tends to go straight for the emotions, (and not always those of the female gender) by always having a child, or childhood involved. There seems to be no limit to the topical moral dilemmas she can write into a child’s world. We came across sexual abuse, suicide, religious beliefs, memory loss, genetic engineering and even stigmata. Along for the ride in a number of her books are the usual secret pasts, murders, infidelities and whispered allegations amongst the adults. Sure, these are all common in best sellers nowadays, but Picoult has a skill for getting many of these in one story and expertly maneuvering them into an emotional roller coaster of a ride. Then we have the much loved ‘twist at the end’ that has you going ‘A-HA, now I see what’s going on!’
As I said before, they can be predictable at times, but under Picoult’s clever hand, it does not seem to lessen the impact. I have much admiration for her skill as a writer, even if I don’t rush to read her. She has an uncanny way of giving up information about the characters. At some point in all her books (I’ve personally read 4) she imparts things about some of the characters only to you – the reader. Sometimes by carefully feeding them out in small tid-bits, other times lumping you with them in one great dollop! This gives you an omniscient view of the situation which allows you to see things through the different characters eyes. She is very good at giving the reader everyone’s side of the story, which tends to have you thinking at least once during a reading, ‘What would I do in this situation?’ This is not an easy thing to do without creating a bias slant to a story. Picoult is a master at it, and we all came to the conclusion that this is why she is so loved as an author. Her topics are morally challenging and dare you to give thought to something that normally would be put in the ‘too hard basket’ or ‘that would never happen to me’.
It would be easy to put Jodi Picoult’s style into what I call ‘writing for the screen’. What I have seen of the adaptations of her books are not impressive, but then that is no real surprise, given what they can do to a good book. But I do think that would be selling her short. She does have a real talent for spinning a tale, and for stirring one’s emotions. Considering what else is out there on the fiction shelves, Picoult is a pretty sure bet in my opinion.
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