SRD on obscurity

Daniel D Jones · 11 Jun 2006, 02:52 · from 2006-June.txt.gz

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From: ddjones at riddlemaster.org (Daniel D Jones)
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2006 22:52:15 -0400
Subject: (urth) SRD on obscurity
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	<200606100914.34339.ddjones at riddlemaster.org>
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Message-ID: <200606102252.15498.ddjones at riddlemaster.org>

On Saturday 10 June 2006 12:44, pthwndxrclzp wrote:
> I gather that what is giving you the most trouble with my statement is the
> word "most," and I concede that I have not read every extant work of
> fantasy; thus, such that a categorical statement is inappropriate.
>
> It's probably time to drop it, but I really am surprised at the
> intersection of Wolfe and Donaldson fandom. To my mind, it's like someone
> championing, I dunno, Cezanne and Jeff Koons in the same breath. Not that
> it's
> unacceptible, just seemingly unaccountable.

Interesting.  I would expect a great deal of cross-over.  While there are 
certainly some very pronounced differences between them, I see similarities 
as well.  Both bring intelligence and depth that is all too often lacking in 
fantasy.  Both explore the nature of good and evil, albeit in very different 
ways.  Both have a penchant for protagonists who are, well, sometimes just 
not very nice people.

> Again, I'm still a bit stunned at the intersection of Wolfe/Donaldson fans.
> For my money, Wolfe's stuff is erudite, layered, compelling, subtle,
> clever, rich, masterful. Whereas I find what little I've read of Donaldson
> to be nothing of the kind. But hey, I'm also sure I love some writers who'd
> provoke nothing short of giggles from lots of people (and not in a good
> way).

Well, I enjoy David Eddings.  It's the literary equivalent of cotton candy, 
but one can't eat healthy all the time.

> P.S. Why isn't just avoiding a writer's books "sufficient"? Well, I think
> 'cause sometimes you gotta let your passions fly. Makes for a more lively
> discussion...at least some of the time. And we are a literary discussion
> forum, after all. Or so it seems to me.

Just to be clear, I was addressing a larger question than solely your post.  
There are web sites (someone posted a link to one here not too long ago) that 
are devoted to denigrating Wolfe and his works.  A great deal of time and 
effort has gone into telling people how horrible a writer he is and how 
overrated is his fiction.

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