Author Topic: This is why we can't have nice things  (Read 10056 times)

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Offline Chris_

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This is why we can't have nice things
« on: October 18, 2013, 02:55:14 PM »
Because weak little wimps like this fellow get all upset at what is essentially a book for teenage boys.

Quote
Revisiting the sad, misogynistic fantasy of Xanth

Here’s how this article was supposed to go down: As a kid, I lived in Florida. Back then I loved the books of Piers Anthony—especially his humorous, bestselling Xanth series, which is set in a parallel version of Florida where magic and mythical creatures exist. For this installment of Memory Wipe, I was going to reread A Spell For Chameleon, the 1977 novel that started the Xanth series (whose 37th—yes, 37th—volume, Esrever Doom, comes out this month). Then, in poignant prose, I would revisit the magic of my own Floridian childhood, even though that childhood was actually pretty ****ed up, but maybe not quite as ****ed up as it seemed at the time. The big takeaway: Thanks, Piers Anthony, for the swell book, not mention giving me a tidy epiphany about how fantasy, geography, and nostalgia overlap in the hazy mists of reminiscence.

Instead, this happened: I reread A Spell For Chameleon, and during those excruciating hours all I could think about was what a sad, misogynistic piece of shit it is.
The Onion AV Club

I'm going to stop quoting here, because what follows is as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning and a liberal finding something pointless to be upset about.

My disclaimer: I still own a copy of A Spell For Chameleon... I made a trip to McKay's Used Books just to buy a copy.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2013, 03:00:12 PM by Chris_ »
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Online Wineslob

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Re: This is why we can't have nice things
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2013, 04:16:41 PM »
Loved that book. So, Mr. Reviewer.................... :bird:
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Offline vesta111

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Re: This is why we can't have nice things
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2013, 05:23:26 PM »
Because weak little wimps like this fellow get all upset at what is essentially a book for teenage boys.
The Onion AV Club

I'm going to stop quoting here, because what follows is as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning and a liberal finding something pointless to be upset about.

My disclaimer: I still own a copy of A Spell For Chameleon... I made a trip to McKay's Used Books just to buy a copy.

Sad man, would he want the series sanitised for today's boys ?

I had an experience a few years ago with all things Nancy Drew books.

Granddaughter came to visit for a week, 8 years old, and I found she did not like to read.   So I went out and bought a brand new Nancy Drew with the title of the first one I had read at her age or younger. 

We would read to each other a chapter and then she or I would read another every day.  Something  was very wrong, the book had been updated and sanitised to the point it was dreadfully boaring.

I got into Moms attic and found a few of the original books that I had read, my Aunties books from the 1940's time.    Now we were cooking, she as I did fell in love with the books and I caught her reading these on her own. No longer did she want to do anything but to, as I did ,fall into the book, she did not want me to read to her, she was in her own world with the book.

I spent some time haunting old book stores to get her the old books of the time, everything from the MR.&Mrs. North story's to Trixie Belden mystery's.  She loved the Topper stories and I did get her the Rebbecca story and she cried.

As things work out instead of one week she spent the whole summer with me.  When she went home she had a big box of books and because she spent so much time reading had gained 10 pounds.

Offline thundley4

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Re: This is why we can't have nice things
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2013, 07:10:13 PM »
I think I've read every Xanth book published and will read the new ones as long as Piers keeps writing them. I've read a couple of his other series, but they never kept my attention like the Xanth series.

I had always hoped that someone would convince Anthony to let an anime series be made from the books.