Reading Between the Lies

As a dyslexic, movies tend to be my first choice in quenching my insatiable passion for stories. Of course, a well-written novel can far exceed the richness and quality of a film, but a two-hour film is simply faster and easier to experience. When it comes to movies, I have a broad taste in genres. As a student of literature, film-making, and storytelling, I appreciate just about anything as long as it is well written. But if you really want to impress me, the story must take me in a direction I wasn’t expecting to go. With that in mind, I definitely have a soft spot for mystery and suspense. Most of my favorite books and movies keep secrets, only to reveal them with a climactic twist. I love being surprised!  Here’s the thing about hiding unexpected surprises in fiction. Unless the surprise is kept secret, it can ruin the experience of the dramatic reveal. Attempting to preserve these gold nugget reveals, can make a general discussion of this particular kind of story somewhat tricky. 
 For a while now, I’ve wanted to share some of the influences that have left an impression on my own fiction. The following is an attempt to discuss such influences without “spoiling” them for those who have yet to experience them.
 M. Night Shyamalan has released several successful films in the past 20 years. He is known for his wild twist endings. When I first went to see “The Village” in the theater, I was mostly unimpressed, at least for the first hour and a half. I just assumed I was watching a typical jump-scare horror film. I never dreamed that the surprise twist would transport me to a completely different time and place. It was a reveal I never saw coming, and those are my favorite kind. Another of his films, “The Sixth Sense”, starred Bruce Willis and hid a huge secret for most of the film. The climatic reveal near the end changed the nature of the entire story. Although I had my suspicions about Willis’ character, I was excited to see how Shyamalan executed the reveal. Again, masterfully done. Even after I had experienced several of Shyamalan’s films, he continues to pull the wool over my eyes. When I watched “The Visit”, I was anxiously expecting the twist, but once again he took the story in a direction I hadn’t anticipated. 
 Another surprise ending that just blew me away when I saw it was Edward Norton and Richard Geer’s “Primal Fear”. My jaw literally dropped open when I realized what had happened. And then of course some films reveal hidden identities like in “Shutter Island” or “The Usual Suspects”, or psychological twists like in “Number 23”, “A Beautiful Mind”, or “Fight Club”. And let’s not forget films featuring con-men like “Focus”, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, “Shade”, “Matchstick Men”, or the classic film, “The Sting”. Each of them sport an amazing and unexpected conclusion.
 There is something simply beautiful about a well-written story, filled with foreshadowing that never seems to be noticed until you read or watch it a second time. Clues are hidden, not just in plain sight, but also between the lines, and our assumptions and previous knowledge shape our limited perspective of the story each time we experience it. 
 I think the best books are the ones that leave you wanting to read them again and again. Each time you journey through the pages, you experience something new. This is why I selected “Read & Reread Books” as the name for my publishing company. I sincerely hope that people are able to enjoy my Broken World Adventures again and again. And maybe… The next time you read it, you might just discover something you hadn’t noticed before.