This thread is keeping me thinking on the aspect of wonder in literature. I haven't read a lot of fantasy to be able to compare; I enjoyed Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea cycle, but since I read the German translation and don't own it (local library) I can't remember details.
C. S. Lewis' space trilogy occurred to me though; it's science fiction, not fantasy, yet IMO the first two books cross that fine line in many aspects. CSL's descriptions of the unusual surroundings on Mars and Venus, the strange colors and shapes that familiar objects have in an unfamiliar environment, evoke astonishment and wonder. We are given Ransom's eyes to see it all through, and as his impression of strangeness changes to familiarity we too realize that our concept of beauty, being in the eye of the beholder, changes when the beholder's sight does.
The sense of wonder is strongest for me in Perelandra. The gradual discovery of a completely different lifestyle, especially the moving islands, causes me to ponder things I take for granted in my own life. Is it necessarily good to have the power to repeat pleasure on demand? What about just experiencing what comes my way? I discover that 'different' doesn't mean 'worse' and could very possibly mean 'better'. I just realized that a lot of the wonder is not only in the descriptions but also in the conversations between two persons of completely different backgrounds.
Then there's the third book, That Hideous Strength. I've never liked it, not even at last rereading after several people had told me it's their favorite. Now I realize why: the wonder is missing! The descriptive details are dictated by the circumstances of evil dominion, I know - but I still don't like them! They are more likely to produce nausea, disgust and loathing in the reader than astonishment. The whole book seems closer to horror than to high fantasy. Is it because there isn't enough description of the good to offset the evil? The latter seems much stronger and more vivid, and even its defeat at the end cannot change that impression.
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth.. .'
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