My professors recommend that the actual action be more than the introspection, as reading 25+ pages of introspection is *boring*. I've seen a few stories like that in class, and they've been recommended as cures for insomnia.
Well, sure, if it's characters I don't know, making decisions about things that don't interest me... that would be excruciatingly dull. And I have my limits on how much I want to hear about L&C's thought processes, too, believe me -- as some authors out there know
But my limits aren't pushed very often. When those limits *are* crossed, I might think the rest of the story is interesting enough for me to skim past it -- I can think of a perfect example but I'm not sure the author would appreciate me mentioning it. <g> Sometimes I roll my eyes and close the file <g> I guess I need to resort to my Trusty All-Purpose Answer to this type of question: "It depends."
That said, I've noticed that professors tend to have a bias against "genre" stories (romance, sci-fi, mystery... fanfic) in favor of what they call "real literature." So I'm not at all surprised at this recommendation.
PJ
who thinks "literature" is a *great* cure for insomnia!
