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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
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| Monday, July 7th, 2008 |
rozk
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8:21a |
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| Sunday, July 6th, 2008 |
rahirah
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10:02p |
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lsanderson
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11:12p |
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mrissa
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10:30p |
High fantasy and loooong childhood passages
So I'm reading The Name of the Wind, and I'm mostly enjoying it so far, but I have a question:
Why does high fantasy seem to be skewed towards telling the reader all about the protagonist's childhood and training even when the exact details have minimal bearing on the plot of the book or series at hand?
I have a number of mutually contradictory theories about this, and of course they may all be wrong; please feel free to poke holes with wild abandon.
1) High fantasy readers are more focused on setting than the readers of other subgenres (at least while they're reading high fantasy). Therefore long passages that don't advance plot much but give plenty of opportunity for setting to be expounded upon are a virtue.
2) High fantasy readers are more focused on character than the readers of other subgenres. Therefore the details of how someone became who they are become more interesting, even if they're not doing much of what they do yet.
3) High fantasy readers have more difficulty than the readers of other subgenres with picking up on details of character or setting and want them exposited much more explicitly and slowly.
4) High fantasy readers are looking for books of substantial size, because they give more room for a leisurely pace and side paths of whatever kind, and this is one of the common side paths taken.
5) Many writers would love to tell their readers about the finer details of their characters' childhoods, but bookstores are not as keen on selling other subgenres at the same length, so their lovingly detailed prose is ruthlessly slashed.
6) ??? (your turn)
Whatever the explanation, I have some issues with the structural/thematic constraints this ends up imposing. If the discourse on the hero's childhood is not to be completely irrelevant, similar issues must recur in adulthood; very few people write at length about how our hero conquered a fear of heights, only to make tall buildings, cliffs, flight, etc. and the former fear of same completely irrelevant to the rest of the book. Where this really starts to bother me is in their relationships with other characters: either the hero meets the nemesis at the age of 12, or the nemesis bears striking similarities to the childhood version of same. And you know what? No. Most of us don't marry someone we knew when we were twelve (my parents notwithstanding), and while many of us can spot recurring issues in our lives, we sometimes do actually manage to move past them! Into new, different, ickier problems! Tell me: your arch-nemesis in junior high. How relevant are they to your life today? How directly, literally relevant? When was the last time you saw them? Did you still care? The It All Began When I Was An Infant school of high fantasy writing is alarming to me in that sense: it didn't all begin when I was an infant. And I don't think it has to be that way for characters, either.
Novels where something interesting and plotty happened in the protag's childhood are not at all what I mean here. |
gerisullivan
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10:48p |
Twinzy Toy success doubled
I suppose it's fitting that my first eBay Twinzy Toy success would immediately be followed by another. The second auction wasn't for another toy, but rather for the December 1940 issue of Baby Talk magazine. Twinzy Toys are mentioned in its pages, most likely in the washable toys article shown in the picture. A few of them look right, but I won't know for sure until the actual magazine arrives. I won the auction tonight at the minimum bid and quickly paid the seller. It's coming from Louisville, so I should have it soon. I've had the Twinzy search set up on eBay ever since I finally registered for an account a year ago. Having the second hit show up just two days after the auction on the first hit ended was amusing. I almost find myself hoping that the seller noticed that somebody out there was interested in Twinzy Toys and added mention of them to her description. That would make sense. Otherwise, it was sheer happenstance, and that's just plain weird. |
dreamshark
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8:28p |
It's not just me! This review of the Cafe Agri exactly sums up my impression of the place. ... In a nutshell, Agri's menu is every rural right-wing hunter's idea of where urban left-wingers eat, except, again, for the trout. If you have an uncle from Grand Forks who you would like to annoy, take him to Cafe Agri. He will scowl at the menu for a good long time, and ask questions like: "What the hell is 'tamari?'" and "What, is gluten poisonous now or something?"... |
| Monday, July 7th, 2008 |
rozk
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1:04a |
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| Sunday, July 6th, 2008 |
elisem
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7:07p |
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skzbrust
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4:24p |
Jhegaala - Spoilers Another place to talk about the book.
(Originally posted at Words Words Words by skzb. Please leave any comments there.) |
skzbrust
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4:24p |
Jhegaala - No Spoilers A place to talk about the book.
(Originally posted at Words Words Words by skzb. Please leave any comments there.) |
rozk
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10:56p |
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rivka
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5:53p |
I swear that soon I will post something more substantive than "conversations with my daughter." But I couldn't pass this one up.
Alex: Can I do this?
Me: I'm going to say... no.
Alex: I think I can do it. (pause...) Mr. Obama says, "yes we can." |
barondave
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4:43p |
Making Puppets at Convergence 
Making puppets at Convergence
July 4, 2008CEMaking sock puppets and other accessories looked like loads of fun. I don't remember which room party had this table. Most of parties in the cabana rooms around the pool blur together, which is woefully unfair. |
nwhepcat
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3:58p |
Pleh.
You know what I hate doing? Calling strangers. Especially calling strangers to ask for favors.
I haven't yet called the couple I was introduced to at the party Friday. I really should, because if I'm going to weld something by the 15th I don't have a helluva lot of time. Sigh. Really Unenthusiastic Guy sort of cancels out Very Encouraging Woman, so it is 4 pm and I haven't called and I think I'd rather go to the bowels of Hell Walmart than go ahead and call. There's some crap I could stand to buy, some of which I need so I can do more housekeeping.
I've been clearing off, decluttering, throwing out, putting aside stuff for garage sale purposes. Hung up a couple of small shelves and some art. Went crazy and started opening boxes in the basement that I haven't unsealed since the move. I really wish I could be more ruthless about throwing stuff away. I need to hire a dominatrix for that.
I was also planning on sorting out the garage and making something crafty this weekend. And getting prize packages ready to mail -- I'm moving closer to that last bit, but now I am tired and my back has been hurting for the last two days.
I have tomorrow off too, so I can get more accomplished (I have a list!) but right now I am over the accomplishment. Srsly. |
lsanderson
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2:53p |
Warm
The heat index is crawling up around 100 degrees fondly Fahrenheit, if such can be called degrees. It's a warm day, although it's backed slightly off the high of 94.
I've much I should be doing, but instead I'm hiding inside reading a book. I adjourned to the swing in the back around 11 and rapidly retreated to the house. It was then rapidly warming and humid. Of course, I've things inside I could be doing as well, but, book! |
davidschroth
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2:10p |
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mrissa
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12:06p |
Despite the vertigo. ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) markgritter is going to do the bit with the oven, but I just kneaded up a batch of fresh bread for the first time this year. My hands feel soooooo goooooood. |
davidschroth
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12:04p |
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barondave
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11:15a |
Old friends reconvene for laurel and dmnsqrl
Cryo Ruggie and kr1mz0n_ghoti
Convergence 7/3/08As I was carrying a copy of Rune 78 (from 1988) for a panel on Minnesota fan history, I ran into one of the contributors! Cryo Ruggie was active on BBSes, local dial-up Citadels, and his son was just getting into the on-line world. (Note Convergence program schedule along the wall on far right. It's a four five day convention, and it's not over...) |
rozk
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4:46p |
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elisem
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10:25a |
Argh. Transphobia strikes again. And at Pride, yet. Go read this post from rozk. |
rozk
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3:51p |
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rozk
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12:15p |
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willshetterly
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4:17a |
the best Babylon is falling The NewLife Blog ยป Jesus for PresidentWe may live in the best Babylon in the world, but it is still Babylon, and we are called to come out from her and be separate from her. That's a quote from Shane Claiborne of Jesus for President, who gets the title of his book and his tour from a Woody Guthrie song. I like what little I've read about the simple way. I plan to learn more. CNN has a video about them: Video - Breaking News. I love the observation that the US is the best Babylon yet. Only 40% of Americans live in poverty, and they're kept out of sight, in "bad neighborhoods" and "flyover country." It's an amazing Babylon. But it's crumbling, and in the way of all crumbling empires, it's refusing to see its problems clearly. Only a few servants of the empire are willing to play Cassandra: Robert Reich's Blog: The Terrible Jobs ReportTotal job losses since the first of the year are now 438,000. That's a loss of 73,000 a month. The economy needs to CREATE 125,000 jobs a month just to keep up with population growth.
In other words, this hole is getting deeper.
Consumers have no money left. This is the first consumer-led recession in over twenty years. Consumer-led recessions are worse than the normal kind, where the Fed has overshot by raising interest rates too high or corporations have pulled back their spending. Consumer-led recessions are deeper and longer.... It's a good time to think about simple ways. |
sraun
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5:16a |
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