Escapism - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Birdland · 08-26-2002, 09:31 AM

Eeeep! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] Now you see why I don't go into too much detail when I recommend the books, Child. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] "A talking gorilla pontificates on the social order of the human race? Okaaaayyyyy..."

It's more of a book of ideas than plot. I can only suppose that Quinn made his teacher an animal as a means of having an "objective" observer of the human condition.

He stresses that the "natural progression" to the modern society we have now is actually very un-natural, and getting back to Tolkien and other fantasy writers (finally) I almost feel that the authors, and the public that enjoy theses tales, is somehow sensing that disorder in their own lives.

In most works of fantasy, none, or very few of the characters has to concern themselves with the drudgery of existance as we know it today. This would be a fantasy in itself for most of us! They're not sitting at a job somewhere, not worrying about how they will pay for the things they need. Not fretting about whether they'll get fired from the quest. Their struggles are much more elemental.

I don't think it is an accident that most fantasy is set in worlds that are based on hunter-gatherer or small agrarian societies. And most of evil to be battled against is attempting to exert total control over the lives of the people in those societies. And the heroes will fight with every inch of their being to resist that type of control. Nobody in Middle Earth was saying "Well, Sauron may be a bit of a wanker, but at least the trains all run on time now."

Just look at what the Hobbits were battling against in "The Scouring of the Shire." A life where all the food and the fruits of their labor were turned over to a central authority, who would dole it out as he felt it was needed, just so long as the people cooperated with what he wanted, and paid for the privilage. Sound depressingly too familiar, doesn't it?

08-26-2002, 09:31 AM	#18
Birdland Ghastly Neekerbreeker Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: the banks of the mighty Scioto Posts: 1,751	Eeeep! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] Now you see why I don't go into too much detail when I recommend the books, Child. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] "A talking gorilla pontificates on the social order of the human race? Okaaaayyyyy..." It's more of a book of ideas than plot. I can only suppose that Quinn made his teacher an animal as a means of having an "objective" observer of the human condition. He stresses that the "natural progression" to the modern society we have now is actually very un-natural, and getting back to Tolkien and other fantasy writers (finally) I almost feel that the authors, and the public that enjoy theses tales, is somehow sensing that disorder in their own lives. In most works of fantasy, none, or very few of the characters has to concern themselves with the drudgery of existance as we know it today. This would be a fantasy in itself for most of us! They're not sitting at a job somewhere, not worrying about how they will pay for the things they need. Not fretting about whether they'll get fired from the quest. Their struggles are much more elemental. I don't think it is an accident that most fantasy is set in worlds that are based on hunter-gatherer or small agrarian societies. And most of evil to be battled against is attempting to exert total control over the lives of the people in those societies. And the heroes will fight with every inch of their being to resist that type of control. Nobody in Middle Earth was saying "Well, Sauron may be a bit of a wanker, but at least the trains all run on time now." Just look at what the Hobbits were battling against in "The Scouring of the Shire." A life where all the food and the fruits of their labor were turned over to a central authority, who would dole it out as he felt it was needed, just so long as the people cooperated with what he wanted, and paid for the privilage. Sound depressingly too familiar, doesn't it?