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/lit/ - Literature

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5774618 No.5774618 [Reply] [Original]

Is there a such thing as well-written fantasy novels?

>> No.5774657

Yes. Quit being a pretentious fuck for five seconds and you'll find a lot of good stuff.

>> No.5774659

Nerds have this myth amongst themselves that high-brow literary types automatically dismiss books just because they have magic stuff in then. That's not true. It just happens to be that very few of those books are any good

>> No.5774671

The Princess Bride, obviously

>> No.5774774

>>5774618
Not as common as well-written sci-fi, for some reason. Neither are very common, mind.

>> No.5775122

>>5774659
They do though. You clearly haven't been on /lit/ long enough.

If I had a nickle for every anon with their head shoved up their ass that posts here denigrating anything and everything that isn't "le high brow" for whatever stupid non-reason they can think of I'd have like, 200 nickles because this is a slow board and not a lot of people post here.

But that's a lot comparatively speaking.

>> No.5775142

>>5775122

Fantasy is stupid trash. Justify it however you like, just don't get upset when a board that focuses on literature doesn't want to talk about it.

>> No.5775171

>>5775122
Most of those guys are newfags trying to fit in because they imagine that high-brow literary types hate "genre fiction"

>> No.5775180

>>5775171

>high-brow literary types hate "genre fiction"

We do.

>> No.5775186

>>5774774
>Not as common as well-written sci-fi, for some reason.

No, there's a good reason for that

>Science nerd
>intelligent, studious, educated
>sees SF as a way to contemplate society and its future in relation to the growing pursuit of technology

>fantasy nerd
>fat neckbeard who plays vidya and tabletop games all day
>sees fantasy as pure escapism for babbies

>> No.5775190

>>5775171
Yeah it's impossible that any people generally think fantasy books are autistic power-escapism trash

>> No.5775424

>>5775142
your opinion lol

>> No.5775463

>>5774657
Give us an example then

>>5774659
It's not a myth. There are some tryhards that non-ironically dismiss any form of fantasy off the bat,

>>5775186
I personally enjoy fantasy but I am leaning towards this guy's point of view. It seems that fantasy is very much based on escapism, whereas sci-fi focuses on allegory, ontology and metaphysics

>> No.5775722

>>5774659

Not a myth; One of those retards is right here. >>5775180

>> No.5775724

liitle, big

>> No.5775740

>>5775186

...So, how do you explain that there's a significant overlap? Most fantasy authors have also written science fiction.

>> No.5775752

>muh escapism is inherently bad

>I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which 'Escape' is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?

>> No.5775768

>>5775752

I really don't understand why people so venomously criticize escapism.

Anything there is to say about the state of the Earth and the human condition has already been said, and probably in a much better way than any living writer can even attempt to do. The only way to stay creative and original is to take the reader some place else.

>> No.5775778

>>5774618
>Is there a such thing as well-written fantasy novels?

>>5774657
>>5774659
>>5774671
>>5774774
>>5775122
>>5775142
>>5775171
>>5775180
>>5775186
>>5775190
>>5775424
>>5775463
>>5775722
>>5775724
>>5775740
>>5775752
>>5775768
>no titles or authors given to dispute this

>> No.5775789

>>5775778

You at least have to give us Tolkien.

>> No.5775790

>>5775778

>no titles or authors given to dispute this

Tolkien
Wolfe
Swanwick
Le Guin

>inb4 they're all shit

>> No.5775808

>>5775778
>waaaahhh why won't anybody spoonfeed meeee

>> No.5775971

>>5775778
Why bother if you're just going to say they're all shit? Just because you don't like something doesn't mean that thing is bad anon.

If more people on this shitty website realized this the site would be a lot better off.

>> No.5775980

>>5774618
Yes, A song of ice and fire.

>> No.5775995

>>5775768
>Anything there is to say about the state of the Earth and the human condition has already been said
no

>> No.5776001

>>5775778
i said little, big, faggot. read it.

>> No.5776018
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5776018

Where does based Salmon count?

>> No.5776030

>>5775995

Yes, it really has.

Love? Everything's been said.
Hate? Everything's been said.
The dangers of collectivism? Everything's been said.
The dangers of individualism? Everything's been said.
The absurdity of life? Everything's been said.
The proposed inherent goodness of human beings? Everything's been said.
The proposed inherent evilness of human beings? Everything's been said.
The transient nature of existence? Everything's been said.

>> No.5776061
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5776061

>>5776030
>Condensing the human condition down to 8 points

lol

>> No.5776065

The Once and Future King is, imo, the greatest English language novel ever written.

But nah, most of them are absolutely shit. The Sci Fi genre, on the other hand, had a few high quality authors. Odd how that works out.

>> No.5776079

>>5774618

being "well-written" is a pseudo-problem. There's really no such thing as poor prose or good prose.

Words are just vehicles for a story/idea/characters. A story can be good, writing is never good or bad.

>> No.5776097

>>5776079

lol fuck off

>> No.5776133

Patrick Rothfuss

>> No.5776209

>>5775971
>Why bother if you're just going to say they're all shit?
>Just because you don't like something doesn't mean that thing is bad anon.
I've neither called anything shit or thrown the bad blanket down, champ. What's it say about you that you're so insecure your "brain" instantly jumps into uberdefence mode?

this thread is a perfect example of why /lit/ is worst board
>ITT: topic
>topic sucks
>if you like topic your fag
>hey, I like topic, topic can be good
>this guy gets it! there's a lot of shit in topic but there is good
>you guys are faggots
this entire board is nothing but people making fun of everyone but themselves because they like or don't like "topic"

>> No.5776223

>>5776079
Keep telling yourself that

>> No.5776407 [DELETED] 

>>5776209
Says the one pulling the good o'l "LE SHOW ME A LIST xD" routine rofl

>> No.5777005
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5777005

>>5776030
Everything that has been said, has been said.

Everything that has not been said, has not been said.

Do you seriously not get it?

>> No.5777035

>>5774618
never was a big fan, i think the creativity of fantasy novel is very limited. it follows a rigid format with recurring character selection.

>> No.5777046

>>5777035
Sadly ironic the fantasy genre should be crippled just so.

I used to prefer fantasy over sci-fi, but I can't find anything worth reading anymore.

>> No.5777065

>>5777046
i know right? whenever i come upon one, i always can't help but think "okay, so what the knight, the witch, the elf, the dwarf, the dragon did this time?"

>> No.5777094

>>5776079
hahahahahaha

>> No.5777096

>>5776097
>>5777094
>>5776223


He's right and nothing you say even matters anymore.

>> No.5777102
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5777102

>>5777065
Actually, I need to mention that Terry Pratchett is the only contemporary fantasy author I can still read and respect. The setting was just that; the setting, rather than the aim or origin of his stories. It helps the characters are aware of the clichés they're living in.

But most everything else I can think of revolves around the knight, the elf, the dwarf, leaving home/coming home and finding a ring/crystal/sword to take to the Destination.