I'm having a bit of an issue with realism. My novel is quite unrealistic but that is a big part of the story- it follows the protagonist around as he goes through comical situations and hilarious antics, which are not exactly believable. Is this bad? I don't want to be conformed to the mundane cycle of having him act in funny but 'average Joe' scenarios. I think that an element of craziness is needed in my book. But in the long run, will I be safe to do so? Or will a publisher not go with something ridiculous? So you know, the purpose of my novel is to put a funny face on serious social issues by having a loveable character present them. My protagonist is an alcoholic, gambling-addicted, drug-fuelled chauvinist who exhibits racist behaviour and harbours many psychological issues (delusions of grandeur, power-tripping, etc.). But I make the character someone who people like, so it not only takes the edge of his offensive idiosyncrasies, but it actually makes you miss them entirely. The reader ends up laughing at racism, misogyny and other related issues, and is supposed to represent how easy it is to fall into the trap of following the crowd and becoming racist/sexist/etc. It demonstrates how social issues actually come into existence, develop and spread. So, do you think that, everything considered, I would be able to get this published in the face of it not being very realistic in some aspects? (Sorry about the very poor writing quality of this post, I'm watching TV while posting this- just so you know that I don't write this poorly in the actual novel).
If it's done right, some books like that are excellent. Often reality is exaggerated for comedy. I just finished Bellwether and it was a total farce but really fun reading. And I'm trying to remember a book I read a while ago about a pizza delivery guy who had to get the pizzas there in 30 minutes in a contest like thing with an organized crime boss, and he hands the pizza off to some delivery person on a skateboard who hangs on the back of cars zipping along to the destination. Dang, it's on the tip of my tongue. The whole book is crazy like that, very esoterically written.
If you're going to roll the dice on making a sympathetic sociopath, there should be some sort of meaning or symbolism to the fantastic. Otherwise, it might lose the intended purpose if it isn't taken seriously.
Thanks for the info, I've never read either of those but I can imagine how they'd play out. This gives me a lot of hope- one of my more unrealistic scenes involve my protagonist breaking into Buckingham Palace, getting drunk, and breaking the Queen's bedroom window. I thought it sounded too stupid but I did it entirely for comical effect (it's written much more eloquently and humorously than I'm making it out to be).
