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/lit/ - Literature

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6452136 No.6452136 [Reply] [Original]

Best descriptions of one on one fights ever written?

>> No.6452146

Holden v Phoebe

>> No.6452150

The Battle of the Peak between Gandalf and Durin's Bane

>> No.6452163

So many fantasy writers try to write about duels like they know shit about sword fighting, and then they just fall flat on their face.

Not to name names, but.....
coughGRRMcough

>> No.6452164

Perelandra

Ransom vs. Weston

>> No.6452172

>>6452136
pikachu vs charmander

>> No.6452176

Italo Calvino's The Nonexistent Knight

>> No.6452187

>>6452136
Gen. 32:22-32

>> No.6452189

masturbation jokes

>> No.6452190

>>6452163
Bruh get outta here
>get sliced up the pussy by sword
>mass bleeding
>die
It's not complicated

>> No.6452193

>>6452187
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[b] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[c] and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

Sounds pretty gay

>> No.6452207

>>6452136
Capitan Alatriste has some nice fencing, if I recall right.

If you're into stuff that borders on SF/Fantasy, Damasios Horde du Contervent has some amazing fighting scenes

>> No.6452301

Good fight scenes for me are ones that don't delve into too much detail. Getting too analytical bores me; duels or swordfights or anything close quarters should be quick, snappy and flow easily

>> No.6452322

>>6452164
100 times this.

>> No.6452347

>>6452301
Give a fucking example then, shithusk

>> No.6452352

>>6452136
The Book of the New Sun captures the chaotic nature of actual combat pretty well, so I'd say either Severian in the avern duel or Severian against the Alzabo

>> No.6452361

>>6452352
Severian vs Alzabo god-tier

>> No.6452365

Aeneas vs. Turnus

>> No.6452373

>>6452301

When it comes to fighting in books I like the fighting to be a series of quick, smartly described action.
In action movies you see a lot of actions that sometimes make you go "oh, that must hurt!" or "hahaha, he ran into the tree!" or "that's pretty cool". These actions are often unpredictable and cool to watch (think of the fights in pirates of the caribeans or 300).
I like that in book. (not mother tongue sorry for typos)

>> No.6452395

Cities of the Plain.

I won't say who is fighting because of spoilers but I felt a bit exhausted at the end of it.

>> No.6452397

>>6452352
Wolfe is a war vet and it shows.

>> No.6452492

Call me a newfag, but Oberyn vs Gregor made me wet.

The Viper with his sleek, silky skills and The Mountain with his complete disregard for anything but crushing his opponent. Classic Hunter vs Big Animal kinda fight

>> No.6452548

>>6452163
grrm has decent fights and they are well gory. coughhe'spopularsoitalkshitcough

>> No.6452561

>>6452492
this was a fantastic fight scene. i was looking forward to it very much which helped make it a bit more exciting. asofai is quite good. if they had never made a tv show there wouldn't be so hate.

>> No.6452568

>>6452548
>decent fights
>well gory
The mark of a true master of words. Doesn't take a lot of literary talent to say that guy A swung, missed, guy B swung, hit, and guy A bled to death. And sprinkling this main concept with a sugar coating of entrails and blood sputtering makes it rather obvious that the neckbeard is really running short on ideas to bluff his way out of sticky situations in his books.

>> No.6452578
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6452578

>>6452561
>asofai

>> No.6452609

>>6452568
>a master of words
we're talking about fight scenes. no one is claiming grrm is "a master of words". he tells a story interesting enough for me to read it through. nothing more.
>makes it rather obvious that the neckbeard is really running short on ideas to bluff his way out of sticky situations in his books.
you've never read it. his fights are all expected. none seemed out of place whatsoever.

>> No.6452626
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6452626

>>6452578
it looked fine when i typed it

>> No.6452639

>>6452492
I second this. Or is it third now?

>>6452568
Mate do you even know what you're saying? GRRM has even told the writers of the HBO show how it ends in case he dies mid-writing. This shows that he's planned it out. He's got the main story points already fleshed out and put in place, but now he's just fine tuning them.

>> No.6452698

Bernard Cornwell's Excalibur:
Lancelot vs Derfel

Because I'm hipster trash

>> No.6452714

Yossarian vs Nately's whore

>> No.6452731

>>6452698
never heard of this. is it good? y is it hipster? hipsters like it or something?

>> No.6452740

>>6452731
I just called myself a hipster because next to nobody's heard of it. You, for example.

Just another Arthurian adaptation, but it really stuck out to me. Visceral and Complicated.

>> No.6452755

>>6452714
lel

>> No.6452756

>>6452714

Yes. She was a fucking terrifying character too, my heart would race whenever she'd pop up out of the bushes with a knife or whatever

>> No.6452797

>>6452397
I found his descriptions of crowds and the general landscape of battle to be really compelling
>>6452136
Cervantes also does a good job of farce in scuffles, I suppose because swords are actually contemporary to him. Most fantasy authors seem to forget that swordfights for the most part consist of little more than two men attempting to hit one another with sharp metal sticks

>> No.6453022

>>6452136
Achilles v Hector

>> No.6453026

pretty much anything out of the original conan books

>> No.6453035

>>6453026
This bitch knows what's up

>> No.6453256

>>6452163
>Muh autistic attention to
realism

>> No.6453275
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6453275

>>6452163
implying you know anything about "real" dueling and/or sword fighting. so sick of google professors who watch a 10 min youtube video and then throw round some keywords and try to lecture people about a subject.

>> No.6453278

>>6452352
The way Gene Wolfe imagines the movements of peoples and armies is really the only one I've ever seen that doesn't suck. I always find that a lot of authors handle the broad movements of armies -- and the individual motives of soldiers -- with a very immature attitude. For an extreme example, the way that Danerys inspires armies to her side in A Song of FIce and Fire.

>> No.6453280

>>6453256
The average sword fight lasts about 10 seconds
Not 20 minutes

The seven samurai is 1000 times more realistic than Star Wars's ebin 15-20 minute duels

>> No.6453282

>>6453022
Massive foreshadowing and build-up ending in Hector throwing his spear and then immediately bring stabbed in the throat isn't what I'd call masterful description. I had to imagine out a fight scene in my head to compensate.

>> No.6453286

>>6453275
http://youtu.be/nGearEu2PlU

>> No.6453288

>>6452714
fuckin lol

>> No.6453297

>>6453280
seven samurai and Star wars are both fictional. Its not everyones goal to make the most realistic work they can

>> No.6453324

>>6453297
Seven samurai was widely praised for its realism

Remember dude Japan had "samurai" well into the 1800s in the film was made in 1950

They could've very easily had a primary source

>> No.6453339

>>6453282
Shows how hard you got cucked by hollywood action scenes

>> No.6453353

>Seven samurai was widely praised for its realism
You can't be serious.

>> No.6453397

Don Quixote and Rocinante vs windmill

>> No.6453398

>>6453353
Who are you replying to friend? :^)

>> No.6453874

>>6453286
>he thinks fencing is anything like real sword fights

Yes, just like baseball is reminiscent of hunting animals with a club.

>> No.6453884

Ferdia and CuChullainn no homookay a little homo

>> No.6454127

>>6452365
Completely agree

>> No.6454142

>>6452136
I liked Michael vs. Satan in Paradise Lost.

>> No.6454911

>>6453874
Don't be a faggot. It's close enough
The only problem with fencing is they have a few stupid rules

Is this better?
http://youtu.be/5zueF4Mu2uM

>> No.6454931

>>6453874
>le hema face
back to your gimmicky "martial art", sport.

>> No.6456195

Don't know if it's what you're looking for, but I like how FX Toole and Hemingway treat boxing.

>> No.6457092

>>6452163
lel
grrm actually has extensive (40+ years) experience dueling in renaissance faires. his specialty is the warhammer (that's why it's always in the books) but he's also expert level with battleaxes and bastard swords
do some fucking research before you post shit faggot

>> No.6457103

>>6452301

For me its more about *how* they won, like the technique or trick they used than a description. Thtat's what heroes are remembered for.

>> No.6457124

>>6457092
that fat fuck couldn't lift a warhammer in outer space

>> No.6457899

>>6452714
This