19th December 2007
Fictional person killed by horse
An evil fictional horse, yesterday |
Describing the move as "completely unexpected", readers and characters expressed their regret that such an important person and/or child could die in such a way.
Shock
Glenda Parnkhurst, who was reading a book set before the second world war, said that "she just couldn't believe" that the child in the book she had up until that point enjoyed, could just die like that, from a horse of all animals.
"It was not something I thought could ever happen," a distraught Ms Parnkhurst said.
Thought
"There this child was, who for the previous 40 pages had been waxing lyrically about how special the pony, the very first one that their father had bought against his better judgment, was, then before you know it that same pony has killed them on their very first hunt and/or outing, usually in front of a parent who is suffering second thoughts about their marriage."
Horses are the leading cause of death in most novels and films set before the second world war, and while consumption, vapours and broken hearts have killed off less, the Society of Authors claims that horses are the hidden killer.
Eights
The society's spokeswoman Dame Agatha Windbreak said: "While tireless work has taken place to decrease the amount of deaths that consumption can bring, it is a little known fact that horses account for more lives than these other killers do combined."
Speaking on behalf of bereaved characters everywhere, Scarlett O'Hara, who lost both a son and father to a horse, said that "authors need to know the risks they put their characters in when teaching them to ride".
Furthermore, she urged writers to consider that while it may seem vital to a plot that a character's first outing on a horse is described, "the risk of their death or serious injury that seem to accompany these passages far outweigh any literary benefit".
Shock
Glenda Parnkhurst, who was reading a book set before the second world war, said that "she just couldn't believe" that the child in the book she had up until that point enjoyed, could just die like that, from a horse of all animals.
"It was not something I thought could ever happen," a distraught Ms Parnkhurst said.
Thought
"There this child was, who for the previous 40 pages had been waxing lyrically about how special the pony, the very first one that their father had bought against his better judgment, was, then before you know it that same pony has killed them on their very first hunt and/or outing, usually in front of a parent who is suffering second thoughts about their marriage."
Horses are the leading cause of death in most novels and films set before the second world war, and while consumption, vapours and broken hearts have killed off less, the Society of Authors claims that horses are the hidden killer.
Eights
The society's spokeswoman Dame Agatha Windbreak said: "While tireless work has taken place to decrease the amount of deaths that consumption can bring, it is a little known fact that horses account for more lives than these other killers do combined."
Speaking on behalf of bereaved characters everywhere, Scarlett O'Hara, who lost both a son and father to a horse, said that "authors need to know the risks they put their characters in when teaching them to ride".
Furthermore, she urged writers to consider that while it may seem vital to a plot that a character's first outing on a horse is described, "the risk of their death or serious injury that seem to accompany these passages far outweigh any literary benefit".
