[ SECRET POST #2995 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2995 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.


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03.


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04.
[Twin Peaks]


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05.


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06.


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07.
[Big Hero 6]


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08.


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09.
[WWE/NXT]


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10.
[Chris Barrie (Red Dwarf)]


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11.
[Person of Interest]


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12.
[Legend of Korra]


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13.
[Final Fantasy X]


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14.
[Xenoblade Chronicles]


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15.
[Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear]


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16.
[Paul Darrow]


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17.
[Gore Vidal]


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18.
[South Park]


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19.
[Ursula K. LeGuin, Earthsea series]


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20.
[Galavant]


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21.
[A Goofy Movie]


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22.
[Mockingjay]








Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 079 secrets from Secret Submission Post #428.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I find Ursula K. Leguin's writing to be... I guess "self-indulgent" would be a good description. And so, SO frequently, whatever sociopolitical subtext she's getting at isn't so much "subtext" as "text", which, in fantasy novels, really bothers me.

I frequently read fantasy/scifi anthologies. A vast majority of the time, when I hit a story and go, "UGH, why is this going nowhere?" my next thought is "URSULA K. LEGUIN" and I'm right.

For me, she's like the literary equivalent of Rachmaninoff: ponderous, self-important, and self-indulgent.

[sarillia]

Why does it need to be subtext rather than text?

[(Anonymous)]

nayrt, but I have heard another author's work described as the story being drowned out by the sound of axes grinding.

[sarillia]

I see having the sociopolitical themes really blatantly right there on the page for all to see differently than preaching though. And I also think whether or not it hurts or drowns out the story is a different measure than how blatant it is.

[(Anonymous)]

Man, if that's how people felt about Earthsea, reading Discworld must have deafened them.

[(Anonymous)]

SA

Well, it's a fantasy novel for one, set in a different time/place/universe than the one in which I live. If you want to debate the merits of Communism vs. Elective Democracy, for instance, fine, but when you have the Bocialists vs. the Freepublicans, that feels too on-the-nose for a fantasy world, and it immediately takes me out of the story. Additionally, it also feels very much like the author's shouting "THIS IS THE WAY I FEEL AND MY WAY IS BEST AND IF YOU DISAGREE YOU'RE A STUPIDHEAD!!!111!!!!1!!!" with that sort of obvious proselytizing, which is kind of offensive to me.

Like, Dune is a metaphor for oil in the Middle East. I like Dune. It never feels like it's grabbing you by the lapels and shouting "SPICE IS OIL! SPICE IS OIL! SPICE IS OIL!" in your face. If you want to read it without the subtext, it stands on its own as a good story.

But Ursula K. Leguin, Christopher Pike, Terry Goodkind, even a few of Terry Pratchett's books (Monstrous Regiment in particular--even if I don't disagree with the message, I can feel like it's too heavy-handed), very much feel to me like the "my way is right and your way is wrong" ranting. And when it is so heavy-handed, I can't ignore it and immerse myself in the fantasy any longer, because it's not easily-overlooked subtext, it's right there on the page.

Obviously there are people who don't mind the "my views attached to a sledgehammer aimed at your forehead" thing. And, cool. It's just not MY thing, and there are plenty of other books to read that I'll enjoy.

[(Anonymous)]

NAYRT

I was thinking about bringing up Dune for a comparison. The best part of it is that the oil parallel is only one of several layers to the story. The story could be read as being about religion, or hero-worship, or ecology, or a bunch of other things. That's sweet! But when LeGuin had a bone to pick, she let you know. And that's jarring.

[(Anonymous)]

I enjoyed the Earthsea novels, but yeah, some of her short stories suffer terribly from this. I ended up throwing away The Compass Rose, because it gave me such an irritatingly strong feeling of why am I wasting my life with these pointless stories where absolutely nothing happens. The Wind's Twelve Quarters wasn't much better.