Dan Houser interviewed on 'Bookish With Sonya Walger' podcast

[Chazza354]

Sonya and Dan have been friends since they met at Oxford university. It can be found on all major podcast platforms - the format of the podcast is for the guest to discuss 5 books that mean a lot to them. It doesn't really touch directly on his work at Rockstar, but obviously as a lead writer for many of the games, it's interesting to hear him talk about his love of literature, and it's the first time I've heard him talk at length about anything so it's just generally quite interesting to learn a bit more about him.

 

Sonya asks him near the end of the podcast how his literary tastes have influenced his writing, and he didn't really go into depth, but he did mention that Arnaud from TBOGT was named after a minor character from Light Years by James Salter. 

 

 

[Spider-Vice]

Oooh, nice! An hour of Dan Houser and his writing influences, something to listen to soon.

[Kirsty]

Thanks for sharing! I listened to it as it's always cool to hear them speak freely about their interests. You can tell he's a really smart guy and well-read, and it goes to show how much he blurred the lines between books and games for his writing during his time at R*. I hope he returns to writing games some day, or film/TV.

[Mister Pink]

I was a huge critic of V's story and IV at the time. In hindsight I take back a lot of what I said about IV. It's not that really I thought the writing was bad, it's more that I was butthurt at the lack of features and map diversity and rewards. The focus on the story and not so much gameplay in terms of features and map diversity was a bitter pill to swallow, coming off the highs of the trilogy and the vast and diverse, San Andreas. I'm not of the mind that good story focus means less quality for gameplay or features and vice versa. I think both and exist and coincide. 

 

After V's, I was bit concerned whether I was actually into Houser's writing at all. It's hard to tell when there are other writers involved, who's responsible for what. For me, there were great lines and some really nice writing in the dialogue. The problem for me was the constant bickering between Michael and Trevor and focus on Hollywood and celeb culture.  It was a chore to sit through. I don't need a big story based on a lot of bickering like that. Shouty and constantly arguing. I don't care much for Hollywood focused stories given the absolute overexposure we all have to it all ready. I needed something more subversive to gain my attention. 

 

But RDR2 pulled me back. I think it has been the most mature writing of any Rockstar game. Morgan's story of redemption told through not only the main story but through strangers was very touching. Morgan's character was so human and so flawed, yet so likeable. I played that story of two years, with some long gaps. I wanted to stretch it out. But it has been one of the best story experiences I've ever had not just in a game but across all the media, including the HBO series I really rank highly. I thought  RDR2 plays out more like a series like Boardwalk Empire or Fargo series in terms of it's long-form format. I think they really nailed that long-form story telling that HBO or Netflix nails over a 10-part series. I think RDR2's long-form storytelling shares more with a high-budget, acclaimed TV series than a 3-act movie in that regard. 

 

So, I must give my respect to Houser for leaving on such a high with RDR2. I would love to pick his brain about the writing process for a Rockstar game. Where does it start? How does it change and morph into what it becomes when the game releases. The challenges and options of how to tell a story through the videogame medium. 

 

Thanks for sharing this podcast. Will listen today.

[Chazza354]

1 hour ago, Mister Pink said:

 

I was a huge critic of V's story and IV at the time

 

I agree with everything you said in your post, he certainly left on a high with RDR2. But I do agree that there’s something a bit ‘off’ about V’s story in general. I guess in their attempt to satirise the plastic vapid culture of LA, it left the game feeling a bit plastic and vapid itself, I always thought V’s LS was a bit of a toy town, definitely my least favourite GTA single player. For me though the Online redeems it - it’s not perfect and many of the additions like the Oppressor MK2 are pretty bad, but I have had played thousands of hours of Online so I have to respect it for that. 
 

I always loved IV but I was 13 when it came out so I didn’t really appreciate the nuance of the story - now I’m older I understand the themes and what they were going for with the fleshed out ensemble cast - the central characters and friends really feel very realistic and fleshed out for video game characters. I have come to understand the compromise that came with that. They couldn’t make a SA level sandbox with all the bells and whistles and have the level of detail in the characters and the storytelling that IV achieved. I also met some very good friends of mine back in the day playing IV online so it will always be special for that. 
 

but yeah tbh, I did get a bit fed up of the GTA style humour, even in IV it felt a bit too obvious, juvenile and in your face a lot of the time. I like a gritty tone with subtle wit. RDR2 was a perfect balance in that regard. 

[Mister Pink]

On 11/30/2021 at 1:58 PM, Chazza354 said:

I agree with everything you said in your post, he certainly left on a high with RDR2. But I do agree that there’s something a bit ‘off’ about V’s story in general. I guess in their attempt to satirise the plastic vapid culture of LA, it left the game feeling a bit plastic and vapid itself, I always thought V’s LS was a bit of a toy town, definitely my least favourite GTA single player. For me though the Online redeems it - it’s not perfect and many of the additions like the Oppressor MK2 are pretty bad, but I have had played thousands of hours of Online so I have to respect it for that. 
 

I always loved IV but I was 13 when it came out so I didn’t really appreciate the nuance of the story - now I’m older I understand the themes and what they were going for with the fleshed out ensemble cast - the central characters and friends really feel very realistic and fleshed out for video game characters. I have come to understand the compromise that came with that. They couldn’t make a SA level sandbox with all the bells and whistles and have the level of detail in the characters and the storytelling that IV achieved. I also met some very good friends of mine back in the day playing IV online so it will always be special for that. 
 

but yeah tbh, I did get a bit fed up of the GTA style humour, even in IV it felt a bit too obvious, juvenile and in your face a lot of the time. I like a gritty tone with subtle wit. RDR2 was a perfect balance in that regard. 

I appreciate anyone that can say they didn't quite like X or understand Y but then return to it after some years and appreciate it on another level. 

 

BTW, I listened to this podcast. Houser is really passionate about these books. Although I'm not much of a reader but more of a visual consumer and artist, I found myself really wanting to read these books. The host of the podcast asks some really great questions and there is some great rapport between the two. 

 

I'd really recommend anyone interesting in Houser's brain to listen to these podcasts. He comes off as a very articulate, intelligent man. 

 

He will be missed at Rockstar. 

[BUT THE BENZ]

On 11/30/2021 at 12:25 AM, Spider-Vice said:

Oooh, nice! An hour of Dan Houser and his movie adaptions

just kidding, and even if true to some point I myself love carlito's way and scarface, so I can't really speak negative about the fact that he transferred characters and stories of the aforementioned into a gaming universe.

 

too bad he's gone, who knows maybe he really thought he's 'getting too old for that sh*t'

 

saving that podcast for tonight, thanks for sharing here!

[Adrenalist]

Enjoyed listening to this immensely tonight while just low key messing about on GTAV. Thank you for sharing. 

 

The part of the interview I enjoyed most  was his honesty about being man, and he addresses the uncomfortableness derived as one searches for his/her identity. It reminded me of a quote from Charles Burkowski, (and I hate to quote him as he was such a daft writer compared to the examples given in this podcast), but anyway... "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ― Charles Bukowski 

 

There were more books and authors discussed by Dan than just the main course of five, so I've listed everything he mentioned below so you don't have to stop 14 times when you give it a listen:

 

Winter Holiday - Arthur Ransome

The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

Tender is the Night - F Scott Fitzgerald

Light Years - James Salter

The Thin Red Line - James Jones

Life and Fate - Vasily Grossman

The End of the Affair - Graham Greene

(unspecified) - Raymond Chandler

Middlemarch - George Eliot 

(unspecified) - Charles Dickens

Daniel Deronda - George Eliot

(unspecified) - Virginia Woolf

 

Really wish Sam and Dan would be willing to get in the public eye a bit more as I find them especially intriguing, but if I had an actress as a mother, I sure af would have limitless disdain for the public eye and likewise would try to do everything to avoid it.