I realize the statement that's been bothering me is the one you quoted earlier: The book doesn't exist in isolation; - that's true, but to some extent backwards - nothing exists in isolation, but the original work, IMHO, is more capable of standing alone than the fics based upon it - if only because the stuff it references is usually part of the body of general culture (for its time and place). In fact I've come to define fic by the fact that it's hard to follow without knowing the original work(s), rather than by whether it was professionally published (there are some novels out there which are to all intents and purposes fanfics of mythology and stuff in the public domain.) Does that make sense? It's 7:55 am, so it might not.
no subject
The book doesn't exist in isolation; - that's true, but to some extent backwards - nothing exists in isolation, but the original work, IMHO, is more capable of standing alone than the fics based upon it - if only because the stuff it references is usually part of the body of general culture (for its time and place). In fact I've come to define fic by the fact that it's hard to follow without knowing the original work(s), rather than by whether it was professionally published (there are some novels out there which are to all intents and purposes fanfics of mythology and stuff in the public domain.) Does that make sense? It's 7:55 am, so it might not.