As you're reading through Suzanne Brockmann's Over the Edge, think about the violence in the book. There's the physical violence (the hijacking in the first place, the bombing and shooting, the rape, the final scene when the SEALs storm the plane), the mental/emotional violence (Sam and Alyssa, Helga's Alzheimer's, Teri's experiences with sexual harrassment, Ken's breakup with Adele), and of course the swearing. How does the violence in the book support the romance aspect of the book? Is the violence necessary to tell the story (general plot)? Is the violence necessary to tell the story of the romance between Teri and Stan? Does the violence heighten or detract from the romance? Does violence like this belong in a romance?
5 comments:
Kendall Dorr
I really enjoyed the novel Over the Edge, but starting the book was a task because of all the profanity and violence that took place you were on the edge of your seats waiting for something else negative to happen. I do think the violence in the novel was somewhat necessary by the book being based on the military the author makes the readers feel like they are actually in the midst of the violence described.
But the violence also introduces the romances that occurred in the novel and it made me as a reader feel that even though they were in a violent situation love can still prevail over all good or bad. I also think that Brockman did a really good job in the novel piecing togething three different relationships and military background to help the readers understand everything that the military has to go through when they are put in such situations as this.
Teri and Stan's realtionship was a mental and emotional battle for the both of them because even though Stan new he could not get involved with Teri the feelings between both of them were neutral. Stan kept sending mixed messages by trying to set Teri up with someone else when he knew that he wanted her for himself. Stan's ability to help Teri overcome her battle of sexual harassment also in a way helped him overcome the fear of taking a chance on love and being in a realtionship with someone.
Overall I thought the book was awesome regardless of the swearing and violence we have to realize as a human being that no one's perfect and you have to remember to have an open mind to certain situations to understand what others are put through on a daily basis serving in the line of duty and thats the message that I think Brockman was trying to get across in this novel.
Regarding your comment on the swearing and violence, I agree that there is no one who is perfect. We certainly are all sinners, people who have fallen short of the glory of God. However, I feel that we have grown too accustomed, too neutral, too unaffected by profanity and violence. Just because we are put in certain situations, military included, we should not have to resort to allowing our speech to become tainted with such obscene language. I have personally found that when I am speaking with someone who continuously uses this kind of language, I lose interest and respect almost immediately. There are ways that we can express ourselves, and appropriately, without having to utilize such trash. I have chosen to not read this novel, and the profanity was one of the main reasons that I came to this decision. I have learned that I have to be incredibly mindful of the things that I put into my mind. I have to be careful with not only what I watch on television, view on the internet, listen to on the radio, but also what I read in books. As a believer and a follower of Jesus Christ, He tells us specifically in Philippians 4:8 what we are to think about.. whatever is good and true and noble and just and lovely and pure and of good report... and so on.... things that are profitable for our soul, profitable for our spiritual well being. I do not believe that books like Over the Edge, that are filled with such obscene language and such are things that should be entertaining my mind. I realize that there are many of you who will have a much different opinion than me. That's fine. Please don't take it as a judgment or anything of that nature for those of you who did not have a problem with the book or the language; I simply know for myself, and for my walk with the Lord, that it was something that I could not engage in.
Elizabeth Liles
Nikki Kennedy
I really enjoyed this book. At first it was very hard for me to understand what was going on because of how the book kept switching from character to charater. After getting through all the confussion it was a great read. I definately think the violence was neccessary. If u didnt have it u would'nt have a story. The violence helped make this story REAL. You could picture the hijackers hitting the passengers if they moved wrong. You could even see the fear on the faces of the passengers. I loved the fact that she used so much violence and swearing. Anyone who has been around a group of people should know that they do a lot of cursing and swearing. Honestly if i was in the military i would probably do it all the time too. That's just part of the military lifestyle in my opinion. Helga was very interesting to me. She had all these flashbacks were she remembered word for word everything that happened but she could'nt remember something she was told 10 minutes ago. She actually reminded me of my grandmother. She could tell you something she did when she was 5 but could'nt tell you what she had for breakfast. That just was always weird to me. If Teri was not getting harrassed all the time then her and Stan probably would have never even became close like they did. The violence MADE this book in my opimion.
Selina Russ
I think that this novel could not have existed without all of the violence. The first reason is that the book centers around a Navy Seals team, if Brockman left out the violence she could have just left out the SEALS part. I also think that Brockman did not include too much violence. The attacks at the hotel, the rape and the molestation are all actual parts of life. And on any given day, one or the other is going on somewhere in the world. I think that the violence provides a good foil to the happiness that true love brings about. I think the novel was just very real without the unecessary sugar coating.
The violence was detrimental to the theme and plot in Over The Edge. Without the violence the romance would not have held the intensity and structure that it did. Teri's and Stan's relationship moved me the most throughout the text because she suffered her own sexual violence while capturing love amongst a more universal violence with Stan. All of the scenarios in the book were realistic and therefore the novel did not seem obscene to me. Violence is a very critical topic when it comes to romance because they obviously seem not to go hand in hand. However in this particular instance, the violence and romance coincided to make an absolutely great novel.
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