The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Listening, Not Telling, Is the Issue

The idea of correlating literary criticism with physiological and psychological research is intriguing on the face of it. But I would be much happier about this book if it were directed toward the listeners rather than the tellers of stories. As it stands, it’s a sort of how-to manual for improving the script for the Kardashians and other creators of literary roadside bombs.

The world isn’t experiencing a dearth of folk who can tell stories well. There are many more good stories in print, and podcasts, and film than all of us could ever experience. And any one of us is hopelessly overwhelmed. Particularly by the semi-literate terrorists with whom we co-inhabit the planet.

There is a natural identifier for most good writers and other storytellers - they get paid; or at least they get published by people who pay for the privilege of doing so. Bad storytellers abound on blogs and webcasts and chat rooms and GR because nobody thinks they’re worth paying for, except the odd rogue government or fascist billionaire.

Why would anyone want to make these ill-educated denizens of the storytelling underworld better at their craft? In order to be more convincing about their tales of cannibalistic pedophile Democrats, poisonous contrails, or the global conspiracy of Corona virus? They already do a pretty good job of attracting an audience for this junk. Teaching them more tricks of the trade strikes me as superfluous.

The real problem is obviously the inability of vast numbers of story-listeners to discern how these modern bards of balderdash, hate and spite are being manipulated by the rhetorical technique, bad as it is, that they already employ.

I suppose that the intent of the book could easily be subverted by reading it as a listening-guide. But that’s not its stated purpose. Besides, any piece by Harold Bloom provides more insight than the whizz bang psychological factoids presented by the author.

Storr is certainly right in his contention that we tell stories in order to keep the horrors of conscious existence at bay. Storytelling is therapy for the knowledge that everything about us is temporary, transient and doomed. But far too much story-listening isn’t therapy; it’s rage and revenge on other storytellers for our fragile, incomplete, and changing grasp of what we call reality.

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