Stories
I’ve been thinking a lot about stories recently. I’ve just finished Lyra’s Oxford, whichâdespite the fact that it’s very shortâis an archetypal story. I mentally differentiate between a story and other kinds of fiction which also have a plot and characters, but I can’t precisely put my finger on what defines a story.
A story doesn’t have to be written, of course; some of the best stories I have heard have been spoken or sungâin the best tradition of the story-tellers who would travel from village to village, entertaining people around their fires at night. One of the best modern story-tellers I know of is Laurie Anderson. I’ve seen her perform a few times, and both the songs and her explanations of them are invariably spell-binding. In fact, I have a story of my own to tell about Laurie’s story-telling skills.
Good job we're not all the same!…