Bitterblue (Cashore) is an example of this. The action completely stops in the middle of the book, while we’re treated to a lecture on cryptography. Cryptography! I happen to really like cryptography (I used to study something related), so I had a blast with this, but I can totally see another person being a little taken aback by it. For another perspective, a similar cipher is used in Curse of Chalion (Bujold), and the cipher is described in less than a paragraph. (To be fair, in Curse, the cipher is a little less important to the plot.)
I just read a book called Admission (Korelitz) (which isn’t a YA book, can I still talk about it?) which has multiple infodumps about college admissions, as far as I can tell simply because the author wants us to know about it. It’s not really relevant to the plot. It’s sort of vaguely relevant to the characterization of the main character (who is a college admissions officer), but everything that’s relevant could have been communicated in far fewer words. Again, I had a great time reading the infodump digressions.
And of course there’s the King of Infodump Digressions: Victor Hugo. Les Miserables is famous for whole chapters and sections where Hugo tells you all his FEELINGS on convents, or (famously) Napoleon, or poop. (No kidding. There is a whole chapter on poop. I had no idea you could say that much about it!)
Do you enjoy infodump digressions, or do they just take you out of the story?
I generally dislike infodumps because I love action and find infodumps distracting, boring and otherwise irritating.
ReplyDeleteThat makes a lot of sense! Especially if you go into a book expecting action and just get an infodump instead...
DeleteI generally hate info-dumps. One of the worst cases I've come across is in the first two Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs. Every single time a new character is introduced the story just stops and we get a full page about them, their species, where they came from etc. And in the second book we're told in detail about the trailer that the main character lives in. Why? I have no clue, maybe because it gets attacked later in the book? Who knows.
ReplyDeleteInfo-dumps seriously irk me, and take me out of the story. Somethings can be explained in a couple of sentences or spread out through the chapters. We don't always need ALL of the information at once.
It's definitely true that I don't think of it as good writing -- it takes you out of the story, and it's much better writing technique not to do it!
DeleteI've never read anything by Briggs. Are the later books better, then?
Depends on the storyline/plot. Les Miserables is a great example. Because that's one of my favorites, I enjoyed the infodumps. The story was so intense and detailing, that I was thoroughly engrossed.
ReplyDeleteNow, if I'm reading my now favorite genres, YA/NA; and the author decides to go on this tangent about a particular subject that really has no relevance to the story, I get bored. Sell me on the main character, but don't bore me about certain things that don't make the story more engrossing. Details, I can understand. A dissertation, not so much.
Yes, Les Miserables is really kind of more digression than it is story, isn't it? I love that book!
DeleteBut yeah, not every author is Victor Hugo. The one in Bitterblue I only liked because of my connection to the field. Fortunately there's only one, so easy to skip :)
I actually really loved the college admissions stuff in Admission (weirdly I was reading that after having been already accepted into college.) It mostly depends on the digression topic. Yay for college admissions; nay on poop.
ReplyDeleteOh good, I'm glad some one else (has read Admission! and) liked the college admissions stuff!
DeleteHee! I actually liked the poop digression in Les Miserables. He does handle it fairly gracefully, especially given the subject material ;)
But yes, it does depend a lot on the subject!
Hmm, I never really thought of it like. So now I am going to be on the lookout for info dumps...is that a good thing or a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I dunno! On one hand, it helps you appreciate the writing craft, which is cool. On the other hand, it can make you less patient when you notice these things!
DeleteI don't mind it so much if it is important to the plot. The only time it really irritates me is when it is relevant to the plot, but at the time you don't realize it and then you have to go searching back for that particular infodump.
ReplyDeleteExample, in case that didn't make any sense: There is an infodump, let's say, in the middle of chapter 5. It's long and seems irrelevant, so you skim over it, not getting any details. So later on, around 250 pages later, while you're reading chapter 36 you realize that it actually was relevant and you can't remember where that infodump was, and now you have to search forever to find it. That's irritating to me. It's a little bit easier if it's an ebook and you have a keyword to search for to lead you to that particular page, but still, I find it irritating. :)
I understand what your saying. I think it's a big risk for authors to use 5 words when just one will do you know? For me it can get quite irritating unless for some reason it's on a topic i am in love with. I have put a book down before because of this.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I hate infodumps, I think if what needs to be said can be said in one word, than say it that way. Do not try to get more words and pages in your book this way, because then it looses the readers interest if it happens a lot.
ReplyDeleteI hate infodump....Always wonder why editors don't take them out!
ReplyDeleteI read the first book Graceling and I loved it! Bitterblue however... I didn't even get to the half of it, I don't know why but it just felt like what I loved in Graceling is missing in Bitterblue.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm not a huge fan of infodump. I admit sometimes I find some of them interesting and truly informative but then again, mostly they're just boring and they take out the fun and action in a book.