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- Dec 29, 2000
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Opening Statement: the irony of my rather long winded post about economy of time and the value one derives from their entertainment pursuits isn’t lost on me. Permit me my deliberations, if you please. This will also be in a few parts. Thank you for your time.
A friend and I were recently discussing fantasy novels and in the course of our dialogue, I came to a realization about my tastes that should have been self evident but for whatever reason never occurred to me.
She asked me what I thought of The Wheel of Time and I told her that I didn’t really get past the first book because the whole thing just felt like a boring slog to me. Specifically, the ‘travelling’ aspect of the book where the characters are navigating a treacherous world while moving ever closer to the destination. For me, it’s a very hard sell because in order for a ‘walking simulator’ to really grab me, it has to maintain that engagement throughout the entirety of its length without losing me at any particular point.
This isn’t because the books are bad, necessarily, but more because the destination feels so far away and I have a hard time excusing or moving past characters, plot points or developments that irk me. Imagine you’re on a road trip with someone you can’t stand and they just won’t shut up. You could, in whatever method you desire, attempt to get them to alter their behavior in some way. You could yell at them or politely ask them to stop or even try to steer the discourse in another direction. But with a long read, you really can’t do that. You’re stuck with the asshole for as long as you’re reading, a silent participant forced to endure the frustration for as long as you deign to consume it.
The long form narrative can be pulled off and, obviously has been. Many times. It’s no secret that I like A Song of Ice and Fire very much. It’s not really a journey of discovery about the world and the plot as it is a series of intense character studies that moves back and forth between them and through their actions and reactions, the environment is built up around them. What you learn comes from the characters experiencing their own stories and interacting with others. It’s a journey to some kind of literary destination but it’s also a journey of self-discovery. And the fact that the characters are almost always imperiled helps maintain the tension-because anyone could die at any point for no reason other than the cruelty of the circumstances dictating their demise, a lot of the reading experience is very gripping.
The setting Martin has crafted feels like a real place with consequences the villains are all too willing to exploit. And we’re talking about a setting where witches give birth to shadow assassins that immediately go off to ‘do the thing’ after crawling out of the womb.
This was how I felt about the comic for The Walking Dead up through issue 75, and why the characters became less interesting once they reached Alexandria and started living in houses. It makes sense that they would want to do that but to me, that’s the end of the story. They ‘made it’. Everything else felt like an epilogue I didn’t need to experience. I couldn’t tell you what happens after ‘The Whisper War’ in TWD’s comic. I kept buying it but I stopped reading it. I did read the final issue with Carl as an adult, however, and I think I know why.
Even though Carl was living a safer and vastly more informed life, separated from the reborn society his father Rick had established with the help of the supporting cast, it was a single issue about the world the characters had made for themselves in all its newfound comfort and the unseen dangers that come with too much safety. The Roman senator Scipio Corculum warned against destroying Carthage because he felt that eliminating all of Rome’s enemies would blunt the stability that comes with a modicum of insecurity, which would lead to opulence, gluttony and a general lack of immediacy. And he was right. Even if Carthage was no longer a threat, it could serve as a reminder that there are always enemies in the world and an ever-vigilant Rome is a strong Rome.
This single issue of The Walking Dead felt like the perfect capstone to a series that had gone on far too long. Were some of those stories interesting? Sure. I suppose. But were they necessary to bring the wonderful denouement of that final issue? Absolutely not. Other than Rick being assassinated, there is nothing in those last 75 issues (or so) that is needed. I’d argue that it bloated the story and, dulled its overall potency as a literary work of sequential graphic art. Thank goodness Kirkman had the good sense to write a banger of a finale.
Getting back to the conversation about epic fantasy, I became aware of two things about my tastes that I’d never realized before:
I was thinking about the stuff I like and came to realize that I am predominantly a fan of pulp and pulp style fiction. Shorter stories where the violence is sudden and visceral, the ideas the author is trying to convey come to the forefront quickly and the characters feel like they’re moving at a brisk pace through the plot and their circumstances. There is a sort of kinetic energy to the pulps that is sorely lacking in the often languid pacing of Lord of the Rings (although I DO love LotR’s plot, characters, story and ideas.) It’s not so much about ‘getting it over with’ because that would mean I’m not interested in what I’m reading. It’s more about feeling a burst of emotions in a shorter span of time and coming away with a bigger impression in the moment. Not every plot twist is going to add to the gestalt of a great work but if you spend a few hours reading a short story only to be disappointed by its outcome or delivery, you haven’t invested a substantial portion of your life into something and then been left wanting your time back. And when the outcomes are great, you feel the rush much more immediately.
This is an odd realization to come to, given that I am not a fan of instant gratification. I like things that simmer a little before they truly get cooking. But I’m also a fast eater because I’m eager to get on to the next thing. And a meal’s preparation can get you eager to devour it if it smells good. You can tell something good is being made and that makes you want it all the more.
My friend Ray put it best: he never finished the original Final Fantasy VII because after the first disc, he was bored. His friends told him ‘well you have to keep playing and then it gets good!’ His response:
“Video games were good right from the start. Can I just have video games that don’t waste my time getting good? That would be nice.’
There is so much media to consume out there in the world: to spend years of your life reading 14 books of an epic fantasy had better be worth it. And for me, it’s almost never worth it. The ROI is almost always bad.
But give me a Conan or Tarzan story where I can just spend an afternoon consuming it in its entirety and it serves perfectly as the distraction it’s meant to be. Just a ‘fun yarn’, as my favorite author Robert E. Howard would say.
As we move along in life, we find ourselves with more responsibilities and less time to ourselves, and it doesn’t always manifest in ways we would like or expect. I ended up being a caregiver for my mother and then my wife (God rest their souls) and that was absolutely the last form of adulting I ever thought I would have to do. Given how little free time we have as ‘grown-ups’, I am of the mindset that I need those hours spent in leisurely pursuits to be meaningful, filled with excitement and voltage and the satisfaction of time well spent. We don’t get time back, so I don’t want mine wasted. By people or by things.
(Coming up: some of my favorite fantasy fiction and why I love it. Elric will probably be first)
EDIT: In light of how this conversation has gone, I don't feel there's a need to write an essay on Elric or Conan or any other fantasy fiction I enjoy. It's all sort of naturally coming out in the body of the messages being posted. This is more natural and a better way to exchange ideas anyway. (5/30/4-me)
A friend and I were recently discussing fantasy novels and in the course of our dialogue, I came to a realization about my tastes that should have been self evident but for whatever reason never occurred to me.
She asked me what I thought of The Wheel of Time and I told her that I didn’t really get past the first book because the whole thing just felt like a boring slog to me. Specifically, the ‘travelling’ aspect of the book where the characters are navigating a treacherous world while moving ever closer to the destination. For me, it’s a very hard sell because in order for a ‘walking simulator’ to really grab me, it has to maintain that engagement throughout the entirety of its length without losing me at any particular point.
This isn’t because the books are bad, necessarily, but more because the destination feels so far away and I have a hard time excusing or moving past characters, plot points or developments that irk me. Imagine you’re on a road trip with someone you can’t stand and they just won’t shut up. You could, in whatever method you desire, attempt to get them to alter their behavior in some way. You could yell at them or politely ask them to stop or even try to steer the discourse in another direction. But with a long read, you really can’t do that. You’re stuck with the asshole for as long as you’re reading, a silent participant forced to endure the frustration for as long as you deign to consume it.
The long form narrative can be pulled off and, obviously has been. Many times. It’s no secret that I like A Song of Ice and Fire very much. It’s not really a journey of discovery about the world and the plot as it is a series of intense character studies that moves back and forth between them and through their actions and reactions, the environment is built up around them. What you learn comes from the characters experiencing their own stories and interacting with others. It’s a journey to some kind of literary destination but it’s also a journey of self-discovery. And the fact that the characters are almost always imperiled helps maintain the tension-because anyone could die at any point for no reason other than the cruelty of the circumstances dictating their demise, a lot of the reading experience is very gripping.
The setting Martin has crafted feels like a real place with consequences the villains are all too willing to exploit. And we’re talking about a setting where witches give birth to shadow assassins that immediately go off to ‘do the thing’ after crawling out of the womb.
This was how I felt about the comic for The Walking Dead up through issue 75, and why the characters became less interesting once they reached Alexandria and started living in houses. It makes sense that they would want to do that but to me, that’s the end of the story. They ‘made it’. Everything else felt like an epilogue I didn’t need to experience. I couldn’t tell you what happens after ‘The Whisper War’ in TWD’s comic. I kept buying it but I stopped reading it. I did read the final issue with Carl as an adult, however, and I think I know why.
Even though Carl was living a safer and vastly more informed life, separated from the reborn society his father Rick had established with the help of the supporting cast, it was a single issue about the world the characters had made for themselves in all its newfound comfort and the unseen dangers that come with too much safety. The Roman senator Scipio Corculum warned against destroying Carthage because he felt that eliminating all of Rome’s enemies would blunt the stability that comes with a modicum of insecurity, which would lead to opulence, gluttony and a general lack of immediacy. And he was right. Even if Carthage was no longer a threat, it could serve as a reminder that there are always enemies in the world and an ever-vigilant Rome is a strong Rome.
This single issue of The Walking Dead felt like the perfect capstone to a series that had gone on far too long. Were some of those stories interesting? Sure. I suppose. But were they necessary to bring the wonderful denouement of that final issue? Absolutely not. Other than Rick being assassinated, there is nothing in those last 75 issues (or so) that is needed. I’d argue that it bloated the story and, dulled its overall potency as a literary work of sequential graphic art. Thank goodness Kirkman had the good sense to write a banger of a finale.
Getting back to the conversation about epic fantasy, I became aware of two things about my tastes that I’d never realized before:
- I prefer shorter stories
- I like the idea of epic fantasy more than I like consuming the works produced for the genre
I was thinking about the stuff I like and came to realize that I am predominantly a fan of pulp and pulp style fiction. Shorter stories where the violence is sudden and visceral, the ideas the author is trying to convey come to the forefront quickly and the characters feel like they’re moving at a brisk pace through the plot and their circumstances. There is a sort of kinetic energy to the pulps that is sorely lacking in the often languid pacing of Lord of the Rings (although I DO love LotR’s plot, characters, story and ideas.) It’s not so much about ‘getting it over with’ because that would mean I’m not interested in what I’m reading. It’s more about feeling a burst of emotions in a shorter span of time and coming away with a bigger impression in the moment. Not every plot twist is going to add to the gestalt of a great work but if you spend a few hours reading a short story only to be disappointed by its outcome or delivery, you haven’t invested a substantial portion of your life into something and then been left wanting your time back. And when the outcomes are great, you feel the rush much more immediately.
This is an odd realization to come to, given that I am not a fan of instant gratification. I like things that simmer a little before they truly get cooking. But I’m also a fast eater because I’m eager to get on to the next thing. And a meal’s preparation can get you eager to devour it if it smells good. You can tell something good is being made and that makes you want it all the more.
My friend Ray put it best: he never finished the original Final Fantasy VII because after the first disc, he was bored. His friends told him ‘well you have to keep playing and then it gets good!’ His response:
“Video games were good right from the start. Can I just have video games that don’t waste my time getting good? That would be nice.’
There is so much media to consume out there in the world: to spend years of your life reading 14 books of an epic fantasy had better be worth it. And for me, it’s almost never worth it. The ROI is almost always bad.
But give me a Conan or Tarzan story where I can just spend an afternoon consuming it in its entirety and it serves perfectly as the distraction it’s meant to be. Just a ‘fun yarn’, as my favorite author Robert E. Howard would say.
As we move along in life, we find ourselves with more responsibilities and less time to ourselves, and it doesn’t always manifest in ways we would like or expect. I ended up being a caregiver for my mother and then my wife (God rest their souls) and that was absolutely the last form of adulting I ever thought I would have to do. Given how little free time we have as ‘grown-ups’, I am of the mindset that I need those hours spent in leisurely pursuits to be meaningful, filled with excitement and voltage and the satisfaction of time well spent. We don’t get time back, so I don’t want mine wasted. By people or by things.
(Coming up: some of my favorite fantasy fiction and why I love it. Elric will probably be first)
EDIT: In light of how this conversation has gone, I don't feel there's a need to write an essay on Elric or Conan or any other fantasy fiction I enjoy. It's all sort of naturally coming out in the body of the messages being posted. This is more natural and a better way to exchange ideas anyway. (5/30/4-me)
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