December 21, 2003Fantasy FictionAs a pre-teen and into my teen years, I enjoyed sci-fi & fantasy fiction more than most of my peers. Piers Anthony was an early favorite, as was Star Trek; Star Wars, too, for the first two movies. And, of course, I did some "dragon-riding" in Pern, dabbled in Heinlein, had a Close Encounter of the 3rd Kind, and blazed through the Thomas Covenant series (heh). Had the books, the posters, etc. Movies, too - although they were few & far between: the best that "my" generation could come up with, it seems, was "Dragonslayer." (Not bad, but not great, either.) Other than, of course, the Trek & Wars flicks...but they were much more "future" oriented (blah, blah...Star Wars set "a long time ago" - right). Not too much, theatrically, along the lines of "here be monsters & dragons." Hm. So now - with the live-action Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings series, you'd think that I would be experiencing geeky bliss... ...but no. You see, I have tried several times - beginning in 9th grade, back in '81, and as recently as two years ago - to read "The Hobbit." Each and every time, I fall asleep by page 30 or so. Also tried the first book in the LOTR series - same reaction. Tolkien's writing simply bores me to death. His descriptions are endless, and his world is entirely too specific. Don't get me wrong - details can be great - but only if they're as brief as necessary to get to the point. The whole series just smacks too much of a mundane, standard-issue, middle-ages England setting, with a bit of magic thrown in. I guess that I just prefer my "sci-fi/fantasy" fiction to be a bit more...well, fantastic. And this weekend, on one of the cable-movie channels, they've shown the first (and second?) LOTR movies endlessly...and I have tried 3 times to watch, but I just can't buy it. And the flat, murky colors that seem to permeate every scene...within 45 minutes, I'm looking for laundry to fold. I don't hate LOTR (books or movies)...I just don't care for them.And as far as Harry Potter...I read the first three books, and while they were entirely capable, they seem very "shallow" and simple. Nice stories, but hardly earth-shattering. I appreciate that kids enjoy the books and movies, but the level of "buzz" over each release (book & movie) just baffles me. Posted at December 21, 2003 11:46 PM | TrackBackCOMMENTS!
I understand your point of view. I didn't enjoy reading the Hobbit either; therefore, I never made it to the Lord of the Rings saga. I do however like the movies and the special effects. As far as the Harry Potter series, they are simple, but I really like the books and again the special effects in the movies. I don't think one would get as much out of the movies if one did not read the books first as so much is left out. Anyway, have you tried Raymond Feist's "The Rift War Saga?" I just finished "The Magician Apprentice." It has the same medieval English setting, but with a twist. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The descriptions are sufficient to aid in visualization without being weighty. Posted by: Babs at December 22, 2003 03:39 PMI'm right behind you on this. Good post. James Posted by: James R. Rummel at December 22, 2003 11:29 PMPost a comment
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