Introduction - The Four Pillars

About Me

Hello and welcome to Aidan Burns Books. I am Aidan Burns and I like books, I don’t burn them, (common misconception). I am actually ardently against the burning of books in any situations that don’t include the sheer necessity for survival. If you’re freezing to death and all you have for the base of a fire are the dry, tattooed carcasses of trees long dead—go for it.

However, if you believe that burning books will display anything other than ignorance and fear, please feel free to turn away and never return. I mean it, get out.

It’s like all the people that bought Nikes just to burn them a few years ago, remember that? (You sure showed them...)

Or the people (looking at you, Kid Rock) who bought Bud Lite just to “protest it” by shooting a 30-rack… cool.

Anyway, my name is Aidan Burns and clearly I like tangents.

The Goal

The goal here is to do exactly what art was meant for—objectification. To anyone who has ever told you “Art is Subjective,” please point them in my direction.

When it comes to books, movies, shows, plays—story-driven entertainment of any kind—there are a number of things that make us gravitate toward them. Namely: characters, plot, novelty, and impact.

Put more basically, enjoyment of stories boils down to nailing at least one of the Four Pillars. Ideally, several or even all of these would be strong in a story, but my argument is that generally only 1 of the 4 needs to be strong in order for us to enjoy a story.

Are the Fast & Furious movies perfect stories full of great morals, values, and cause for great introspection? No. Am I thoroughly entertained trying to see how the characters are going to make it to the moon and back with the power of family? Hell yeah.

The Four Pillars

As with any structure, the greater the basic foundation, the greater the structure. However, much like the great Acropolis, strong pillars, few as they may be, can withstand the unerring trials of time.

1. Characters

   
   

   1. Are these characters that I care about?

      
      

   2. Do their struggles mirror those I have experienced in my own life and can relate to? Do they come up with interesting solutions to said problems? Does the process of them growing and changing inspire any growth and change in my life (see Pillar 4).

      
      

   3. Conversely, their story and struggle could be wholly alien to us, showing us another side of life we aren’t familiar with? Can this expand our perspective on our values or how we see the world? Or how we interact with others?

      
      

2. Story

   
   

   1. Great stories are simply drawn-out magic tricks. They take us on a journey, ask us questions, shield our attention from information until it is needed, and even veil their truths (read: morlas) behind the obvious façade they present.

      
      

   2. This Pillar is arguably the foundation of stories, and as such, a case could be made for putting it first. However, Watching characters we care about go on a great journey is far more enjoyable than watching some despot go on the same journey.

      
      

   3. Yes, villains are often the most compelling part of any story, but I would argue that is only true insofar as they serve as a challenge, mirror, or foil for our protagonist(s).

      
      

   4. As such, the story is the key component, but the backdrop and urney are unappreciable without the personal aspect of watching our characters overcome challenges presented along the way.

      
      

3. Novelty

   1. Never-before seen! First of it’s kind! Novel!

      
      

   2. Why do we like new flavors of foods? Why do we enjoy traveling to some exotic beach or mountain rather than going to the one we’ve seen dozens of times? Novelty.

      
      

   3. Humans desire (and I believe benefit greatly) from novelty. This is why many people struggle with stagnancy. Same job, same commute, same lunch, some vacation spots. It’s all an affront to our desire to explore novelty.

      
      

   4. Similarly, in the stories we seek out, we are seeking a degree of novelty. True, the market (movies in particular) are over-saturated with reboots, unnecessary sequels, and spin-offs, but that’s a rant for another time.

      
      

4. Impact

   
   

   1. The impact of a story or truly any media is immeasurable, but not ineffable. Whether it is cultural, global, communal, or individual, stories impact us in different ways.

      
      

   2. Stories like Hoosiers and Cool Runnings might serve to inspire other underdogs, Lord of the Rings and Dune have shaped the fantasy and science fiction markets respectively, Meanwhile 1984, The Handmaids Tale, and Brave New World have shaped our perception of the dangers of governmental overreach.

      
      

   3. On a lesser note, the personal impact side, stories can resonate within us, change our views, change how we view and interact with the world around us, and give us new views on life.

      
      

   4. Arguably the most ephemeral of the pillars (the most difficult to support a structure alone), but perhaps the most important.

Reviews

Using a fool-proof system (because I said so), I will be grading stories on a scale of 1-5 for each of these pillars. For fairness (and because I believe every story has something to offer on all these fronts)

Nothing will be getting lower than a 0.5 (or maybe 1) for any of these pillars. Stories that score at or below a 3 are probably lacking some fundamental components.

Those that are 6-10 are strong in some areas, maybe very enjoyable for one reason or another. 11-15 are getting into the category of must-reads. These have a lot to offer on a lot of fronts and though they may not be the best story ever told, they are worth while.

16-20’s will be rare, likely unattainable.

But as with all dreams, all outlandish goals, we must strive for that unattainable greatness. So there it is, the goal here is twofold.

First and foremost, objectify art.

Secondly, and outlandishly, I will be searching for what I believe to be the perfect story. What has the perfect mix of characters in the right situation, achieving something novel, and leaving a lasting impact?

Does it exist? Will we ever find it? Stay tuned to find out.