Article written by Ashleigh Lowry.
In this era of literature, almost every author can claim they received their inspiration from another novel. Remakes and re-imaginings are a good part of the stream of literature coming through bookstores today. Many book clubs, friendship groups and writing circles have debated which style of writing is better in relation to the original novel or series. So, I decided to put my opinions out there and discuss (hopefully, unbiasedly) the positives and negatives of these styles of writing.
In the literature world, remakes and re-imaginings are grouped together as the umbrella of retellings, so many people just assume they are the same thing. To really understand where I’m going with this article, I am wanting to share the definition of the two genre styles that I'll be using for this article.
Remakes, in their base form, are a redoing of something that has already been done. Many times, the story is given a different setting but everything else is kept roughly 75% - 95% the same. Character usually share a name, mannerisms and growth through the original and remake novels. I am not excluding that some notable changes do happen in these remakes so the story makes sense for the time, but the purpose of a remake is to update and tell the same story as the classic it is taking its inspiration from. An example of this is The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su.
Re-imaginings take the core ideas of the source material and do something notably different to them. This could happen in a number of ways, which can be nothing more than adding another element to the story, such as magic or supernatural elements, or going to the extreme and completely reworking the world, where the remnants of the story can be linked between the two novels. Both styles are valid. One example of a quality re-imagining is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith.
One of the primary reasons people enjoy reading remakes is that the story they love stays relatively the same, but the language, social pros and technology is updated to more contemporary times so the story feels realistic to them. Authors can update language structure, word use and social issues, so they become more relatable to the contemporary reader of today. To many, the mix of nostalgic and new content gives them the ability to engage with the issues in present-day society while also enjoying the characters and plot they love dearly.
However, this strong similarity can also be the genre’s downfall. Readers who love certain characters, events or themes will dislike a novel because those things they enjoy were discarded or changed to fit the new setting of the story. Negative critics of the genre style call these novels imitations, cash grabs and other less than polite names. But I have a different opinion; authors who write and publish these novels, need to possess a unique sense of creativity to be able to effectively and seamlessly have the novel stay true to the original story and characters and be realistic to the new setting. They have a special talent for balancing the old and the new in a way that makes the overall novel both readable and enjoyable.
For re-imaginings, the major selling point is the complete departure from the original story. Authors in this genre creative twist and remodel well-known stories and novels to create something new and maybe unheard of before. Faithfulness to the original story and plot doesn’t really matter as much, providing the author keeps the major events and lines of the story that everyone loves. Changing character personality or a minor overhaul of the original plot are both aspects of this genre of novels that some readers enjoy. However, in the same way as with remakes, this can also cause altercations with some readers because of the complete departure form the story and characters that they love. Authors can be scrutinised for how the plot, characters and well-known events happen within the context of the novel, with some tearing it to pieces to find imperfections just because they don’t agree with or enjoy the direction that author decided to go in. I, again, have my own opinion on this. These authors are wonderful examples of using something well-known as a jumping-off point, creating something new out of the structure of the old. It is their own special way; the authors of the re-imagining novels are celebrating the stories that are near and dear to their hearts.
If I were to tell you the defining factor as to why one style of novel retelling is better than the other, it would be this: It is all up to personal opinion. You know best what you like and dislike in a novel. My advice is to just keep reading, and maybe you will find something that you enjoy and can connect with just as well as the original.
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