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Posts: 926
Nov 28 14 4:03 PM
This discussion sent me down to the Tacoma Book Center, which claims to be (I am sure correctly) the largest used-book store in Washington State. I picked up old Ballantine pbs of Warlord of Mars, The Return of Tarzan, and War Chief. The first two because I remember them as among the best and because I had not read them for going on 50 years. The third because of Dave's recommendation about the Apache novels, which I had never read. (This shows the probable truth of TBC's boast; these three books were immediately to hand.)
Here is the opening sentence of Warlord of Mars:
"In the shadows of the forest that flanks the crimson plain by the side of the Lost Sea of Korus in the Valley Dor, beneath the hurtling moons of Mars, speeding their meteoric way close above the bosom of the dying planet, I crept stealthily along the trail of a shadowy form that hugged the darker places with a persistency that proclaimed the sinister nature of its errand."
This is pure Burroughs prose, and it immediately transported me back 50 years: I recalled the quest and exactly where John Carter was headed-- to find Dejah Thoris, imprisoned a Barsoomian half-year before in the Temple of the Sun at the conclusion of The Gods of Mars, with Thuvia of Ptarth and Phaidor, the daughter of Matai Shang, hekkador of the Therns. Amazing sensation!
Interact
Posts: 1939
Nov 28 14 9:12 PM
Invisible Academic
"Symmetry and asymmetry are convivial. The paradox of order and chaos in simultaneous improvisation is such a challenge to hold in focus. But in that balancing, (for it is surely in infinite process and never totally balanced)--- in that conversation, -- in that music, the new enters the patterns."
~ Nora Bateson
Friends Along the Road: Sanctuary for Those in Grief * Caring Emotional Support Lilli Pierce and the Big Trip: Life, death, afterlife, grief, love, friendship, spirituality, and moreI PLUS ULTRA I
Posts: 863
Nov 29 14 6:47 AM
I once lived in a (curious) yellow submarine
David Pierce wrote:If it could be said that Burroughs is Vancean, it would be true, except for the fact that he came first.
Immanuel Kant: sapere aude
Posts: 1384
Nov 29 14 9:44 AM
Also available in trade paper
Posts: 1863
Nov 29 14 12:07 PM
Purveyor of gently used deities
MikeTransreal wrote:'Vance is ERBian'?
Posts: 1403
Nov 29 14 4:11 PM
AdministratorThe Treacherous Trencherman
Matt Hughes wrote:MikeTransreal wrote:'Vance is ERBian'?Well, erbs are certainly Vancean.I haven't been around lately because of hardware issues, but I now have a new laptop that will let me continue writing in WordStar and happy to be back. Good to hear, too, from some people who also haven't been around lately.
Nov 29 14 10:51 PM
Nov 30 14 12:33 AM
David Pierce wrote:A notable exception is with his Apache characters in the War Chief novels. They all converse in a dignified-sounding manner as if Burroughs were translating the essence of their Athabascan.
Nov 30 14 4:26 AM
Posts: 3869
Nov 30 14 11:45 AM
Burned in effigy by the French on Bastille Day
Nov 30 14 12:19 PM
David B Williams wrote:Maybe it's just me, but I hate the attempts of novelists to reproduce dialects with funny spelling. We're not listening to the radio, people,
Posts: 1704
Nov 30 14 2:11 PM
Nobody tosses me!
David B Williams wrote:Maybe it's just me, but I hate the attempts of novelists to reproduce dialects with funny spelling. We're not listening to the radio, people, we are reading. Skilled writers can suggest the class and venue of characters by what they say, not how they speak. Best example that comes to mind is Jack Vance.
I agree as well, but only in the broadest general terms. There are numerous exceptions. When it's well done in limited doses, it definitely adds flavour and couleur locale to the story. Jack London comes to mind :
http://www.online-literature.com/london/80/
http://www.online-literature.com/london/102/
Nov 30 14 2:59 PM
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