An observation of sorts…
I realized that my imagination was not working very well, lately, and the best cure I know for that is to read. Read interesting books full of memorable characters and places, books which awake my mind and set it wandering again.
For whatever reason, however, two of the authors considered as among the greatest of the SciFi/Fantasy genre in the last 50 years do nothing for me. I have now honestly given both Philip Pullman and Frank Herbert a fair shake and I simply cannot really get into their writings.
I’m positive that this says much more about me as a reader than it does about them as writers, but it’s just an observation. Given that Douglas Adams and Isaac Asimov, both avowed atheists, are authors whose writings I enjoy, it can’t be a simple matter of the anti-religion aspects to Pullman and Herbert. But just the writing style does nothing for me… go figure.
Time to go grab some Alexander McCall Smith or some JRR Tolkien or Evelyn Waugh or Geoffrey Chaucer or Jonathan Swift, maybe.
I have to agree with you on Frank Herbert, both times I started reading the Dune series I was unable to get to the end. Likewise I find DA and IA very good reads (although I’ve totally detested all the other Authours forays into IA’s universe that I’ve read so far).
For me I think it comes down to whether it feels like Authours are trying to push their own philosophies htrough their writings – something that puts me off an awful lot of ‘christian’ Authours. In the case of the good ones you have mention you (that I know about) you often can’t tell from their writing where their own personal philosophies fall.
This has particularily come through to me in the demise of my interest in Terry Pratchett as an authour, as more and more his later books seem to be becoming vehicles of his own world outlook.
November 14th, 2009 | #
For what it’s worth, Herbert wasn’t an atheist, and I didn’t mean to imply he was. Just that Dune, the widely lauded sci-fi novel of the 1960s, doesn’t work for me. I don’t find the characters interesting and the world doesn’t come alive for me.
November 14th, 2009 | #
I’m still wondering if you had a category in mind here. Was it that you were leaning toward science fiction and have had some good experiences in the past, but lately can’t find anything good so you’re backing off that genre? Or something else?
Ever tried Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian? (I had to attempt three times, but the third attempt, it flowed really easily.) I’d also recommend the first 300 pages of Moby Dick. The plot wasn’t enough for me to justify reading the boring second half, though I did finish it. But the first half does introduce unforgettable characters. In my opinion, that’s Melville’s best skill. While I’m mentioning sea stories, Mutiny on the Bounty is also great.
November 14th, 2009 | #
No particular category in mind, but I had borrowed Dune from the library and it brought to mind trying to read Pullman a couple years ago. I really got into Anne Rice’s Christ the Lord novels, though, which I also borrowed from the library.
I’ll give Melville and O’Brien a try next time I’m down to the library.
November 14th, 2009 | #
Evelyn Waugh? Really?
November 25th, 2009 | #
Evelyn Waugh can be a good read. I was surprised at no Wodehouse… but maybe Bec hasn’t persuaded you in that direction.
November 25th, 2009 | #
Maybe the Vile Bodies just isn’t a good maiden Waugh to read.
November 26th, 2009 | #