Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
A calling out of raffishness bordering on internet trollism, daring to disparage such a dear and beloved work.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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A calling out of raffishness bordering on internet trollism, daring to disparage such a dear and beloved work.Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
Tag-teaming and name-calling masked as concern about OPs mental health.
Tag-teaming and name-calling masked as concern about OPs mental health.A calling out of raffishness bordering on internet trollism, daring to disparage such a dear and beloved work.Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
Insistence that the book must have caught the reader at the wrong time, so it's timing and fate that are to blame, and a reread is not only necessary, it's expected.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Insistence that the book must have caught the reader at the wrong time, so it's timing and fate that are to blame, and a reread is not only necessary, it's expected.Tag-teaming and name-calling masked as concern about OPs mental health.A calling out of raffishness bordering on internet trollism, daring to disparage such a dear and beloved work.Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
Blame on parents, impoverished social opportunities, education system, and whole damned generation for OPs cultural deprivation.
Blame on parents, impoverished social opportunities, education system, and whole damned generation for OPs cultural deprivation.Insistence that the book must have caught the reader at the wrong time, so it's timing and fate that are to blame, and a reread is not only necessary, it's expected.Tag-teaming and name-calling masked as concern about OPs mental health.A calling out of raffishness bordering on internet trollism, daring to disparage such a dear and beloved work.Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
Questioning of the OP's open contact with his own emotions and his aesthetic as it relates to matters of sentimentality; does anything beautiful touch his stone of a heart, or is he steely and broken, waiting and primed for wars that never come.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Questioning of the OP's open contact with his own emotions and his aesthetic as it relates to matters of sentimentality; does anything beautiful touch his stone of a heart, or is he steely and broken, waiting and primed for wars that never come.Blame on parents, impoverished social opportunities, education system, and whole damned generation for OPs cultural deprivation.Insistence that the book must have caught the reader at the wrong time, so it's timing and fate that are to blame, and a reread is not only necessary, it's expected.Tag-teaming and name-calling masked as concern about OPs mental health.A calling out of raffishness bordering on internet trollism, daring to disparage such a dear and beloved work.Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
Offering OP an 'out' before he breaks under the pressure, a chance to admit he spoke in haste after a bad day at work or after eating a spoiled fish.
Offering OP an 'out' before he breaks under the pressure, a chance to admit he spoke in haste after a bad day at work or after eating a spoiled fish.Questioning of the OP's open contact with his own emotions and his aesthetic as it relates to matters of sentimentality; does anything beautiful touch his stone of a heart, or is he steely and broken, waiting and primed for wars that never come.Blame on parents, impoverished social opportunities, education system, and whole damned generation for OPs cultural deprivation.Insistence that the book must have caught the reader at the wrong time, so it's timing and fate that are to blame, and a reread is not only necessary, it's expected.Tag-teaming and name-calling masked as concern about OPs mental health.A calling out of raffishness bordering on internet trollism, daring to disparage such a dear and beloved work.Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
Boldly stating what is incontroveribly good about the book with such passion that the OP fears further destabalizing the delicate condition of a committed superfan.
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Boldly stating what is incontroveribly good about the book with such passion that the OP fears further destabalizing the delicate condition of a committed superfan.Offering OP an 'out' before he breaks under the pressure, a chance to admit he spoke in haste after a bad day at work or after eating a spoiled fish.Questioning of the OP's open contact with his own emotions and his aesthetic as it relates to matters of sentimentality; does anything beautiful touch his stone of a heart, or is he steely and broken, waiting and primed for wars that never come.Blame on parents, impoverished social opportunities, education system, and whole damned generation for OPs cultural deprivation.Insistence that the book must have caught the reader at the wrong time, so it's timing and fate that are to blame, and a reread is not only necessary, it's expected.Tag-teaming and name-calling masked as concern about OPs mental health.A calling out of raffishness bordering on internet trollism, daring to disparage such a dear and beloved work.Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
Or...It could be that the book just Sucks... I think that is the most logical conclusion.
Contributor
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Up front: I confess I'm jumping to the end of the thread to respond to the initial question.
It may also be that this is a an Idea and Milieu story even more than its a Character or Event story. Like you sound, I'm more a Character or Event person in my fictional preferences.
Ok, what's all this Milieu, Idea, Character, Event cr*p this dude's spouting?
It's something about thinking about fiction, that I picked up from Scott Card, and that I like. It's in his book. How to Write Sci-Fi and Fantasy.
Basically, Card contends that by-and-large any piece of fiction tends to fall into one of these four types (with healthy dollops from the other categories), that each is its own unique beasty, and that comparing a Milieu book to a Character book doesn't really work. Like comparing a bannana to a steak. More useful to compare one bannana to a better bannana or one steak to a better steak.
Anyhoo, just a thought. Let me stop here before I do poor service to a neat idea.
C'mon Moonie, win the victory over yourself. You love Big Sister.
That's Dr. Dei, bub. ;)
hehehe...
Quick Jade, turn on the disarming charm.
Setting phasers to scintillate.
And that's Aubrey the Malformed, BSc, ACA, MCT to you, greenie.
Aubrey = BSc, ACA, MCT
Let's scramble those letters and get...
<drumroll>
A scabby cum crate? That can't be right. Who would study so hard just to become a scabby cum crate? It's hard to rattle off impressively at parties.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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And that's Aubrey the Malformed, BSc, ACA, MCT to you, greenie.Aubrey = BSc, ACA, MCT
Let's scramble those letters and get...
<drumroll>
A scabby cum crate? That can't be right. Who would study so hard just to become a scabby cum crate? It's hard to rattle off impressively at parties.
That can't be right BSc ACA MCT ... I get: "MC Scab Cat". That works for me.
Hey! You guys have used your phasers to melt Aubrey's face enough already! Can't you just brainwash him nicely?
Edit: So that's what the Top 16 tag looks like. Congrats, Dr Dei.
That can't be right BSc ACA MCT ... I get: "MC Scab Cat". That works for me.And that's Aubrey the Malformed, BSc, ACA, MCT to you, greenie.Aubrey = BSc, ACA, MCT
Let's scramble those letters and get...
<drumroll>
A scabby cum crate? That can't be right. Who would study so hard just to become a scabby cum crate? It's hard to rattle off impressively at parties.
Didn't Paula Abdul once do a duet with MC Scab Cat?
You forgot to add the a-u-b-r-e-y.
Hey! You guys have used your phasers to melt Aubrey's face enough already! Can't you just brainwash him nicely?
Edit: So that's what the Top 16 tag looks like. Congrats, Dr Dei.
Congrats, Tarren! You got my vote. :)
And Mairkurion, Aubrey doesn't need niceness. His old leather sack of a heart pumps a caustic mix of high octane petrol and scotch.
I'd say something really nice and deserving about him but he'd just say I'm being treacly. ;)
Jade, you misunderstand me. I want you to be nice to me. I have to look at Aubrey's face in threads all the time, and I just don't want it to get any worse.
;)
Just want to chip in on the plus side for the first three earth-sea books. For me, LeGuiun's spare prose does a fine job evoking the world, especially in The Tombs of Atuan.
I have immense respect for Ursula K. LeGuin, but I will admit that I read this book for the first time last year and didn't enjoy it, either. To each his own.
1- I liked the books.
2- There is fourth book in the series now. I do not recall the name. It starts with a 'T'. I did not see anyone mention the fourth book upthread.
EDIT; Drat, Aubrey referred to the fourth book days ago.
Jade, you misunderstand me. I want you to be nice to me. I have to look at Aubrey's face in threads all the time, and I just don't want it to get any worse.
;)
Oh, well that's a different animal entirely.
Just to fan the flames, I have never liked her writing, I find it dull and her characters unrealistic within the frame work of her own stories.
The only book of her's I enjoyed was Lathe of Heaven.
The flames are paper mache, I assure you. ;)
I remember enjoying the book when I read it long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. The ending didn't make a whole lot of sense, though.
I enjoyed Tombs of Atuan more.
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Hey! You guys have used your phasers to melt Aubrey's face enough already! Can't you just brainwash him nicely?
Edit: So that's what the Top 16 tag looks like. Congrats, Dr Dei.
Congrats, Tarren! You got my vote. :)
And Mairkurion, Aubrey doesn't need niceness. His old leather sack of a heart pumps a caustic mix of high octane petrol and scotch.
I'd say something really nice and deserving about him but he'd just say I'm being treacly. ;)
Actually, there's money in being a scabby cum crate, so the study was worth it. And treacly - good word, if only you guys actually knew what treacle was.
Uh-oh, Aubrey...you've done it now. I'm gonna go all countertenor falsetto on yo ass: <clears throat with much mucousy hacking>
For I'm called Little Buttercup -- dear Little Buttercup,
Though I could never tell why,
But still I'm called Buttercup -- poor little Buttercup,
Sweet Little Buttercup I!
I've snuff and tobaccy, and excellent jacky,
I've scissors, and watches, and knives;
I've ribbons and laces to set off the faces
Of pretty young sweethearts and wives.
I've t-r-e-a-c-l-e and toffee, I've tea and I've coffee,
Soft tommy and succulent chops;
I've chickens and conies, and pretty polonies,
And excellent peppermint drops.
Then buy of your Buttercup -- dear Little Buttercup;
Sailors should never be shy;
So, buy of your Buttercup -- poor Little Buttercup;
Come, of your Buttercup buy!
Oh, A British tar is a soaring soul,
As free as a mountain bird,
His energetic fist should be ready to resist
A dictatorial word.
(Sorry, played Rackstraw in seventh grade.)
Sorry! Doesn't everyone love Gilbert and Sullivan?
I now wonder why I said "countertenor". I should have just said falsetto, since the piece if for an alto. The coffee must have still been brewing.
I loathed LeGuin when I first read her in my teens. Can't remember the book; can remember suffering through an interminable Lathe of Heaven movie.
Years later I picked up Lathe of Heaven (book) and was blown away. Same with Dispossessed.
And then the Earthsea trilogy.
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I loathed LeGuin when I first read her in my teens. Can't remember the book; can remember suffering through an interminable Lathe of Heaven movie.
Years later I picked up Lathe of Heaven (book) and was blown away. Same with Dispossessed.
And then the Earthsea trilogy.
Thanks for bringing the thread back on subject!!!
Though I wish more people realize how much this book sucks.. :-(.
Read a good book... Pick up George R.R. Martin or Robert Jordan..
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Robert Jordan!?
No disrespect to his memory and all, but I didn't make it through book one, nevermind all the others. If you think le Guin didn't cut to the chase, how about a guy who couldn't finish a trilogy in twelve parts?
Yeah.. I know few here don't like him...But many others do... But I never remember him saying the series was going to be a trilogy...
I love his story and his writing. Even if it took so long to finish..
Robert Jordan!?
No disrespect to his memory and all, but I didn't make it through book one, nevermind all the others. If you think le Guin didn't cut to the chase, how about a guy who couldn't finish a trilogy in twelve parts?
To add to the papier mache flames, I have to agree with Aubrey on this one. I love Le Guin, she has a unique style and her writing is vibrant. the Earthsea books were one of my favorite series when I was a child. Books like the Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossesed and The Lathe of Heaven were some of my college-age favorites.
Jordan, no disrespect to the dead, is a snorefest. Never got past Chapter Two of his first book, a very rare thing for me.
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Jordan, no disrespect to the dead, is a snorefest. Never got past Chapter Two of his first book, a very rare thing for me.
That is how I felt about Le quin... I barley felt she put any effort in writing a story..
I barely knew the characters.. The story kept jumping.. and the character motivations were poor in my opinion.
That is something Jordan did well.. You understand all his characters and motivations and you don't feel like you are missing huge chunks of the story.
Ok... I decided to check out the book 'A Wizard of Earthsea' By Ursula K. Le Guin, and I have to say... it was terrible! Why is this such a popular novel?
I don't know why this is such a popular novel. I've never read it or anything by Le Guin. What I do know is that tastes differs in almost everything and litterature is no exeption.
I, for instance, think David Eddings write in forced clichés, and that Mary Shelleys Frankenstein was a poorly presentet version of a great idea. It seems that my taste differs alot from the mainstream readers at times.
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I, for instance, think David Eddings write in forced clichés, .
The first time I read David Eddings when I was a teenager, I loved The Belgariad & The Malloreon, recently when I read it again I did not enjoy it as much.
If I can re-read a book and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed it the first time, I know I love the book or series..
I have read Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World 11 times, The Great Hunt 10 times, The Dragon Reborn 9 times, The Shadow Rising 8 times, The Fires of Heaven 7 times, Lord of Chaos 6 times, A Crown of Swords 5 times, The Path of Daggers 4 times, Winter's Heart 3 times, Crossroads of Twilight twice, Knife of Dreams once. Basically I have read the series over every time he came out with another novel and enjoyed the re read every time!
I have also re-read George R.R Martin novels a few times and I have enjoyed them to. Though I get upset with martin sometime when he kills off people.
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If you think le Guin didn't cut to the chase, how about a guy who couldn't finish a trilogy in twelve parts?
by the way... He did plan a shorter series.. just not a trilogy.. the original plan was a 6 book series.. Now has turned to 12 *The current author of the last book says he may need to split the 12th and last book into 2 books*, That has happened to quite a few series. In fact George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire was supposed to be a trilogy and now has a planned 7 novels.
...
I have also re-read George R.R Martin novels a few times and I have enjoyed them to. Though I get upset with martin sometime when he kills off people.
I'll agree with you on the GRRM novels (although I like them precisely because he's fearless in killing off main characters if it serves the story arc). IMO Jordan couldn't shine GRRM's shoes. But that's just me.
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I'll agree with you on the GRRM novels (although I like them precisely because he's fearless in killing off main characters if it serves the story arc). IMO Jordan couldn't shine GRRM's shoes. But that's just me.
too me, they have similar writing styles.. One is just willing to kill off people..and the other is not..and they write their female characters different.
But there pace vs the size of the story to me feels very similar.
shrugs
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I find GRRM's writing gritty and involving. What little I remember of the two chapters I suffered through with Jordan felt like cardboard-copy schlock fantasy. YMMV
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right now I am listening to an audio book of of Terry Goodkind's novels.
The first 12 eps of Legend of the Seeker are also available for free viewing at Hulu. Not too bad, for TV fantasy fare.
I also re-read certain book over and over. I must have read Zelazny's Lord of Light at least a half-dozen times (and remain boggled how anyone can read his Amber novels, which are miles below the work he did on Lord of Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness, Isle of the Dead, etc.), and Fiest's Magician is my 'comfort food' that I re-read every couple of years.