Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Obsession

This is topic Obsession in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :

Wbriggs topic/gripe on tyranny leads me to ask a similar question regarding obsession.

Are there any Speculative Fiction books that you recall that explored obsession as a central issue and theme?

Posted by JBSkaggs (Member # 2265) on :

Well there are thousands of thriller and horror books based on obsession- Lovecraft, Barker, Poe, etc.

But non-dark themed obsession I can't think of one.

Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :

The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, had folks obsessed with watching the past, and being obsessed with knowing future people were watching them -- which led to many eccentricities.

I liked the book. It had its moments where I nearly put it down, but I persisted nevertheless and it worked overall for me.

Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :

Xenocide ? Or do you mean more central than that?

Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :

I think I mean on a more personal level than that.

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

You mean, over a particular psychological object rather than as a general neurobiological compulsion?

Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :

No, I mean obsession explored in speculative fiction, but in an intimate manner, with just a few characters, no grand quests, no great villains, just people being people.

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

So you mean both more central to the story and more psychological than psychiatric, right?

I'm thinking about a really great short story I read in an anthrology, I can't quite remember the title, but the last line is something like "Now I'm watching Jim/Joe/whatever, and what'isname is watching me." The gist of the story is that it is a journal kept by a guy that is on a long term mission manning a science station on the moon with two other guys. Each of the three astronauts has developed some personality quirks, though the narrator/journalist doesn't notice his own. Basically, he's a neatnick and gets rather obsessed about waste disposal procedures and avoiding contamination of the moon's surface. One of the other astronauts teases him about this quite a bit, expostulating on how it's the destiny of mankind to contaminate the universe and sometimes improperly disposing of trash by simply throwing it out the airlock. The other astronaut builds a complicated nest/hammock for himself and remains aloof, both spatially and by never saying anything when they're arguing.

Things happen. It's a pretty good story. I only wish I could remember more about it. I think that the title was...okay, found it. Now I'm watching Roger. So put "Roger" into the appropriate places in last line I attempted to quote above.

There was a later story that must have been a tribute to this earlier one called...I can't remember. But it featured the adventures of a guy living/working on the moon who always had the misfortune of being teamed up with Roger (or "Rodg", also a verb), a spectacular doofus known to everyone on the base for his apparently innocent but infuriating antics (becoming a victim of such behavior was known as being "Rodg'ed"). The story manages to be much more upbeat despite the tragic death of one of the main characters, which deeply affects the protagonist (and Roger), leading to the exploration of what someone like Roger is doing on the moon. If anyone can figure out what that story was called, I'll be fairly impressed.

Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :

Thanks, Survivor. I'll look for it.

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

By the way, the later story doesn't feature obsession in any big way (though the protagonist does have a secret stash of freeze-dried pizzas buried on the moon so he can continue to eat them dispite the strict diet mandated by the powers that be, which another character notes as being very weird). I just thought of it when I realized that it must have been a tribute of sorts to the earlier story.

Cherryh's books often were very psychological too, and some of her stories centered on various obsessions. And of course you have Moby Dick and all the stories derived from it. Going back to the classic stories is often the best way.