I know what you want. You want a story that won't surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won't make you see higher or further or… - Yann Martel

know what you want. You want a story that won’t surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won’t make you see higher or further or differently.

So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?

I challenge anyone to understand Islam, its spirit, and not to love it. It is a beautiful religion of
brotherhood and devotion.

The mosque was truly an open construction, to God and to breeze. We sat cross-legged
listening to the imam until the time came to pray. Then the random pattern of sitters disappeared as
we stood and arranged ourselves shoulder to shoulder in rows, every space ahead being filled by
someone from behind until every line was solid and we were row after row of worshippers. It felt
good to bring my forehead to the ground. Immediately it felt like a deeply religious contact.

It's a misery peculiar to would-be writers. Your theme is good, as are your sentences. Your characters are so ruddy with life they practically need birth certificates. The plot you've mapped out for them is grand, simple and gripping. You've done your research, gathering the facts; historical, social, climatic culinary, that will give your story its feel of authenticity. The dialogue zips along, crackling with tension. The descriptions burst with color, contrast and telling detail.
Really, your story can only be great. But it all adds up to nothing.
In spite the obvious, shining promise of it, there comes a moment when you realize that the whisper that has been pestering you all along from the back of your mind is speaking the flat, awful truth: IT WON'T WORK.
An element is missing, that spark that brings to life in a real story, regardless of whether the history or the food is right.
Your story is emotionally dead, that's the crux of it.
The discovery is something soul-destroying, I tell you. It leaves you with an aching hunger.