The Art of Dialogue and the kitchen knife scene

[china_shop]

I was watching a YouTube video about how to write snappy dialogue (banter) by heyjameshurst. The creator used examples from The Princess Bride, The Empire Strikes Back, His Girl Friday, and The West Wing to illustrate that good dialogue is like a tennis match, a playful competition, and in each volley the tension escalates to "a sudden, sharp reveal of truth."

Afterwards, I was thinking about it in terms of Guardian, and the first scene that came to mind was the kitchen knife scene. Wow, this is a stellar example of what the video talked about! It's dynamic because every line fires back in a way that is difficult for the other person to respond to. (Often they're reacting to the subtext -- or actually, what they perceive the other's subtext to be -- rather than the words, and sometimes slightly at cross-purposes, so lines that could be non-sequiturs feel seamless.) And the truth is forced out of them. It's so impressive!

( Transcript from Viki subs. )

Guardian Readalong: Vol. 2, Chapter 19

[facethestrange]

Hi, and welcome to this week's installment of the Guardian novel readalong - we have reached the end of volume two! ♡

Here are last week's chapters, and you can find all previous discussions in the schedule posts (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4), or via the !readalong tag.

This week's chapter:

• Chapter 19: (The whole chapter consists of Zhao Yunlan's memories of what he experienced in the Great Divine Tree.) Zhao Yunlan finds the Merit Brush, and sees Pangu creating the world. He remembers Kunlun's childhood, which includes raising a black cat yao and making a bell for him. Nüwa creates humans, and Kunlun points out that they are tainted with the three worms, making Nüwa regret her creation. Nüwa and Fuxi create the Great Seal. Great wars are raging. Kunlun agrees to look after the wu and the yao. Kunlun blinds a dragon, making the god Gonggong crash into the Buzhou Mountain and tear a hole in the Great Seal. The gui break free. Kunlun destroys the Pillars of Heaven, earning divine punishment and causing deadly floods. Kunlun meets the young King of the Gui. Nüwa repairs the sky and the Great Seal. Kunlun gives the young King of the Gui his soul fire and his tendon, making him into a god, and asks him to guard the Four Pillars. Kunlun dies and becomes the Soul-Guarding Lamp. Zhao Yunlan wakes up from his vision back in Dragon City.
  

The corresponding chapters in the Chinese version on JJWXC/the fan translation are 76-78.


Excerpts:

( 1) Kunlun's childhood and his little yao friend )

( 2) Nüwa creates humans )

( 3) Kunlun and the young King of the Gui's first meeting )

( 4) Kunlun's death )

Questions:

Did any of the epic/sweeping scenes or images stay with you, or did you like the more personal moments better? Just how adorable are the young versions of Kunlun, Da Qing and Wei? How do you feel about this creation myth and what it says about humans? What do you think upset Zhao Yunlan the most about these memories? Any thoughts on volume two as a whole, or on the entire story so far?

You can answer as many or as few questions as you like, or just comment without answering any of them at all! And if you see this post and you're not actually reading the novel: As always, I would love to know what you think about any of this with limited context. :D

And here is the schedule, and that's where you can sign up to host a post.

There's no new post next weekend - enjoy the catch-up week! The readalong comes back with volume three on the weekend of May 9. :)