"William Marnoch" <william@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:8v0rs1d6311cnotj1ir6lp5cvs84aku6u5@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>I stumbled across something on-topic on the Interweb, so I though I
> may as well post it here, since we have been a bit starved of on-topic
> conversation in recent years.
>
> On another forum someone posted a link to some reviews herely:
> http://www.christianfantasy.net/eddings.html
(actually they linked to
> the Terry Goodkind page, as there is some amusingly over-the-top
> criticism). Out of curiosity, I looked to see what they thought of
> David Eddings' works. It does seem slightly incongruous to see them
> rate his work as 'dangerous'.
>
> Reading the review, unlike some other similar review websites (such as
> the fundamentalist reviews of Hollywood movies site that was widely
> mocked on the Internet a while back), they're not too irrational,
> although I completely fail to see why the lack of a monotheistic
> religion in Eriondia is worth noting even if you are the sort of
> person who does believe in such things.
>
> They do, however, have some more arguable points:
>
> "These books are subversive - but only after really extended contact
> with them. You are called upon to root for a thief, a drunkard, and a
> slew of happy-go-lucky warriors who enjoy killing their enemies.
> Little quips of morality are thrown in, anti-serfdom, for example -
> but much of that morality is near obsolete from daily Western life,
> and therefore is as helpful as rock candy."
>
> It is certainly true that some of our heros are not particularly nice
> people - Silk and Belgaraths are murderers, for example, and several
> characters are career criminals (Platime, Talen and to some extent
> Belgarath and Silk as well, although it was more of a hobby than a
> career for them).
>
> I'm not sure I agree that DE was intending to be subversive, and I
> think the reviewers are forgetting that the books are set in the
> (pseudo-) Middle Ages. Those were often pretty nasty times where the
> rule of law was only intermittently enforced. Setting a series in such
> a world where some of the characters were nobles, politicians,
> military leaders and so on and not have a high pro****tion of them
> acting in ways we might consider reprehensible would be unrealistic
> and trying to apply too much modern morality to condemn all their
> actions would be absurd.
>
> Thoughts?
>
>
> --
> William Marnoch
>
> william@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.voidhawk.com/
Film and Book reviews
That **** is better than the Onion.
|
