I've been following along on the threads that have discussed both the use of prologues/epilogues, and interspersed flashbacks. It got me thinking (usually a dangerous thing) about other storytelling techniques, and now I'm curious about the use of bookends in novels.
For anyone not sure what I mean by "bookends," the best example I can think of is the movie Titanic. It begins in the present, sets up a conflic, then moves into the past where the majority of the story takes place. At the end, it jumps back to the present, a few more things are revealed, and THE END. Less than twenty percent of the actual film takes place during those bookends, but they are essential to the film's overall story arc.
I tried to think of a novel that has used this technique. The closest I came was the original format of The Green Mile (Stephen King). When it was published as six serial volumes, each slim novel began and ended with scenes of "Present Day Paul," with the meat of the story set in the past.
Can anyone give me of other examples of this technique in fiction? Do you like it? Do you run from it in terror?
For anyone not sure what I mean by "bookends," the best example I can think of is the movie Titanic. It begins in the present, sets up a conflic, then moves into the past where the majority of the story takes place. At the end, it jumps back to the present, a few more things are revealed, and THE END. Less than twenty percent of the actual film takes place during those bookends, but they are essential to the film's overall story arc.
I tried to think of a novel that has used this technique. The closest I came was the original format of The Green Mile (Stephen King). When it was published as six serial volumes, each slim novel began and ended with scenes of "Present Day Paul," with the meat of the story set in the past.
Can anyone give me of other examples of this technique in fiction? Do you like it? Do you run from it in terror?
