/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.4929039]

What does /lit/ think of Steven Erikson? I think he's the JS Bach of literature.

Reddit loves him

[Anonymous No.4929046]

>the JS Bach of literature

Holy shit OP.

I fell for the bait, didn't I?

[Anonymous No.4929051]

>>4929046
Not baiting, I'm willing to back this up.

[Anonymous No.4929152]

Entertaining, yes, but the Bach of literature?
>mfw

[Anonymous No.4929157]

>>4929039
You have made it readily apparent you know nothing of music or literature.

3/10 made me reply

[Anonymous No.4929164]

>>4929039
If reddit loves him we hate him, we must always oppose reddit's SJW communist fedora schemes.

[Anonymous No.4929183]

>>4929051
Please do.

I have read three books so far and most of his characters are as flat as a 12yr old.

[Anonymous No.4929832]

>>4929183
>as flat as 12 year olds
this is the type of analogy I can only push out on a good day.

[Anonymous No.4929920]

>>4929183
K, but keep in mind, this isn't an argument towards him being objectively the best writer, but literally like JS Bach. I'll need to state a few considerations first:

1) On counterpoint

coun-ter-point
noun
1.Music
the art or technique of setting, writing, or playing a melody or melodies in conjunction with another, according to fixed rules. a melody played in conjunction with another.

2. an argument, idea, or theme used to create a contrast with the main element.

Counterpoint is a common technique used in the Baroque era of classical music, of which Bach was the most famous composer. Say you play piano (like I do) and you try to learn a piece by Bach or Handel. There will be two melodies written out to be played individually by the left and right hand. At the very beginning you will learn how to play these melodies with one hand at a time, and as you practice them you will become familiar with what they sound like.

Eventually you will become good enough at these melodies to attempt playing the full piece with both hands together. You will shit yourself in surprise and frustration, because the harmonic effect produced by the two melodies together is totally different from what you were getting used to when you were first learning it hands separately. It's like a brand new song. That's counterpoint, and that's the skill that propelled these composers to legendary status hundreds of years after their death.

2) Why people like Bach

Google this for yourself and read the answers if you want. I have heard many opinions and to me the summation of all of them sounds like this:

His music has the effect of a kaleidoscope, or a fractal, or some sort of puzzle. The genius is in the structure and the symmetry. You can play any of his pieces on any instrument and it will still sound good. People love to intellectualize and analyze it because it never gets old, and people can listen to it for decades and never stop finding new things about it.

If I liked Bach myself I could provide a more convincing answer, but my respect will have to suffice.

3) Why I like Steven Erikson

Erikson uses themes in his writing like music, and that music is contrapuntal in nature. There are crescendos and climaxes and diminuendos (getting a little jargony here). Like the melodies I described earlier, a story arc will continue on it's path until it crosses the path of another story arc (or in the case of his endings, all of them at once) where the meaning of the whole thing will be turned on its head, as the harmonic effect of all the elements put together reframes the story as something completely different to what you thought it was. I read his books for the structure and plot patterns, which are so intricate and fascinating I don't give a rats ass if not all the characters are developed.

That is why I think Steven Erikson is like JS Bach.

[Anonymous No.4929922]

>>4929164
Reddit, shut the fuck up.

[Anonymous No.4929933]

>>4929920
Oh I forgot one point. His entire Malazan series is a constant stream of buildups and payoffs to various storylines. In every single book he is laying the groundwork for events that will happen in every book to come next, and in every single book you are seeing payoffs to past storylines in nearly every scene (though they don't happen as often in the first two books). He may introduce a character in book 1 with the intention of turning him into one of the most powerful figures in the canon, but you won't be able to tell at first until it actually happens, after which you can see all the hints leading up to that in previous pages. He does this literally with every book. Book 1 is very much setting up for events in book 10, just like how book 2 is setting up for both books 3 and 4 at the same time. It's like a big crazy web. Kinda like Bach's music.

[Anonymous No.4929942]

>>4929039
But that's not Steve Erickson.

[Anonymous No.4929989]

Never heard of her

[Anonymous No.4930028]

>>4929933
I will always be pissed off that he never reveals what happens to Felsin the Younger after she becomes queen of that cult and addicted to food and sex orgies

[Anonymous No.4931326]

>>4930028
She probably gets mentioned in the Esslemont books or the Karsa trilogy, but I'm mad cuz I didn't finish the series yet and you just mildly spoiled it for me

[Anonymous No.4931347]

>>4929920
If counterpoint and fractal structure made someone the JS Bach of literature, it would be David Foster Wallace. But the comparison of those elements between music and literature is stupid anyway.