A Gift

[Pissball]

I am still struggling with the "12-year-old mind" plus the "200-year experience". I think it's the only mistake for me, from JAL, along with some "magic" about vampirism (although that's expected) always within the context of supernatural/vampire fiction but seeking some "realism".

As I said before, perhaps, the only thing I can think of is amnesia and a cyclical life for Eli. That is, his memory functions as a backup or a 'memory card', in which each "new life" after hibernation replaces the other.
In that scenario, she would actually be a forever 12-year-old girl with no identity other than being a vampire and be called Eli/Elias (which stays with him from his very first post-hibernation life, of course) with survival as the only goal almost as an instinct, every time he awakens, without much awareness of a past, or future.

In this case, it is at the end of the 70s, say 1977, she hibernates in 1979, wakes up again in 1981, the year of LTROI, which means that she would remember this, the woman and the money and all events those years, but not whatever happened before, in the 60s or 50s, etc depending on hibernations. Those past lives remain in the dark, maybe coming back as nightmares/dreams/hallucinations, like the wigman.

That makes him a constant survivor who adapts to each year. When he replies "I do not know" to what happened to his mother, it is true, the same for many of his belongings, the elements of his past and obscure life. A true puzzle, even for him.

[dongregg]

There are various parts of the book that would limit our fan fiction writers. JAL sensibly ignores some of them in his film script (although we don't have access to his much longer original script). Bathtub full of blood comes to mind. And Håkan's pedophilia is left out. The actor said he played the role as a lonely man, not as someone obsessed with having sex with children.

Memory is one more sticking point. I would prefer an Eli whose life in the forest was drearily repetitive, giving him little to distinguish one decade from another. As presented, his amnesia would seem more like that of a person with a form of dementia, such as portrayed in the film Memento.

The novel is so filled with details that the reader can choose what to focus on. But when you write fan fictions, inconvenient difficulties need attention, as we can see in discussions on WTI, especially in posts made in the early years. We read in those posts, too, rigorous debates about the book versus the film. I tried to stick with film Eli when I was writing my 10-part fan fiction, but stuff from the book found its way into the story, as did ideas from a number of fan fictions by other members, mostly written before I joined the forum.

So I deservedly get flack about bringing stuff in that is inconsistent with the novel and the film. And I don't give credit to other fan fiction writers, like A_C_L, Petemork, and GK. I'm confident that such inclusions will be obvious to some of our forum members.

Fan fictions must of course honor the source material, but the reader must take into account the needs of the sources, the needs of the writer, and the needs of the fan fiction story. The stories needs to honor the plot, of course, but above all they need to honor the reader. It is well to remember the quip attributed to Maugham: “There are three rules for the writing of a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.”

[metoo]

I am still struggling with the "12-year-old mind" plus the "200-year experience". I think it's the only mistake for me, from JAL, along with some "magic" about vampirism (although that's expected) always within the context of supernatural/vampire fiction but seeking some "realism".

Perhaps the reason for your struggle is that in real life people’s developmental age goes hand-in-hand with their experience. Few of us have met a person of mental age 12 who has lived like that for 200 years.

Still, I think such a person is quite conceivable, in principle at least. That said, I cannot say that I really know what such a person would be like, other than unfamiliar in subtle but still perplexing ways.

[gkmoberg1]

I am still struggling with the "12-year-old mind" plus the "200-year experience". I think it's the only mistake for me, from JAL, along with some "magic" about vampirism (although that's expected) always within the context of supernatural/vampire fiction but seeking some "realism".

Perhaps the reason for your struggle is that in real life people’s developmental age goes hand-in-hand with their experience. Few of us have met a person of mental age 12 who has lived like that for 200 years.

Probably.

Still, I think such a person is quite conceivable, in principle at least. That said, I cannot say that I really know what such a person would be like, other than unfamiliar in subtle but still perplexing ways.

I'm sure they would be one of the most unique people you'd ever meet. Yet one thing I suspect you would not find out so easily is that they were of such an extreme physical age. Thus the reason for my 'Probably' above. I say this because I am sure somebody who has lived that long, whether of a mental age of 12 or 15 or 40 or 96, has likely long ago learned to avoid the attention that comes with others knowing. So they would come across as 'different', probably aloof, probably wise in unexpected ways. But to find out their secret - that might not be at all easy.

[dongregg]

Hi, metoo. I just read "A Gift" again. A compact and well-told story, which is a gift to all of us.

[gkmoberg1]

Still, I think such a person is quite conceivable, in principle at least. That said, I cannot say that I really know what such a person would be like, other than unfamiliar in subtle but still perplexing ways.

This has been on my mind for the last day. There is a short by E A Poe 'The Man of the Crowd' which is useful here for comparative discussion. In Poe's story, the narrator becomes aware of a elderly man, 65-70yrs of age, whom he takes to following and by following him makes conclusions from that pursuit. Would this be similar to how you or I spot such a person you describe? By some moment of pure chance, something gets our attention and events build from there. As with what I wrote before and with what Poe has here, the target of the narrator's attention does not flaunt this unusual attribute. Rather it is learned by observation and reflection.

[dongregg]

Thanks. "A Man of the Crowd" was well worth rehearsing.

[PeteMork]

I haven't read Poe's little tale for years. Now I notice how well he has "shown us" rather than "told us" a great deal about this mysterious character. Not as mysterious, however, as an old-young Eli might be. If you could survive that long following him, that is.

[metoo]

Hi, metoo. I just read "A Gift" again. A compact and well-told story, which is a gift to all of us.

Thanks!

[metoo]

By the way, I once read a short story that featured a young boy who came to live with a childless couple. He was well-behaved and gave them much joy, but eventually, after a few years, he told them that he had to leave.

It turned out that he didn't grow old. He spent his life going from one caretaker to the next, always moving when his never-changing appearance might start raising suspicion.