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Um, bababa... what was I going to say? Oh yes.
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rochefort brings to my attention this interview with Susan Cooper, which I don't think I've read before. Or if I have my brain has long since erased it to make room for random facts about boring things. It looks very interesting, although I haven't read it all yet.
Why is Yahoo so crap?
Eh... can't think of anything to say really. I'll stop bothering you now.
rochefort brings to my attention this interview with Susan Cooper, which I don't think I've read before. Or if I have my brain has long since erased it to make room for random facts about boring things. It looks very interesting, although I haven't read it all yet.Why is Yahoo so crap?
Eh... can't think of anything to say really. I'll stop bothering you now.
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When you're using myth you can be precise for the purposes of your book, but you do it at your own peril. The mythic elements are all intended to be slightly out of focus, like an impressionist painting, and if you try to sharpen the focus you will lose something. You will lose the magic. The writer must tread gently.
...because one of the things I really like about TDIR is how grounded it is--Arthur doesn't come across as some shadowy mythic character, and Merriman most definitely not; maybe she just walks that line very well, or maybe I just tend to pick out and focus on the elements that appeal to me *g*. I suppose there's that mythic element to the books, but I'm more drawn to how it's contextualized in those small human ways.
Anyway, thanks for the link!
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I suppose there's that mythic element to the books, but I'm more drawn to how it's contextualized in those small human ways.
Yes, I know what you're saying, and I totally agree. But what she says about the magical or mythical element in TDIR really struck a chord with me. The magic in TDIR has always seemed very fluid to me, something that can be slipped in and out of; it's unpredictable and you feel it's always just below the surface of things. That's something that's always really appealed to me about the books. Very different from say, HP magic, which I feel is (or at least is intended to be) quite precise and controlled. Although of course that has its own appeal, especially when it's explored in fic.
But there's so much good stuff in this interview. I like how she talks about Arthur as the "Dark Age war leader" and the sense of an England that's constantly threatened with invasion... those things come across very strongly in the books, I think.
Btw, I've been meaning to e-mail you for nigh on a year now. Every time I begin I forget totally what it was I was going to talk about. I'm afraid I suffer from Weird Email Angst, which is a terrible modern infliction. :)
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And like you say, while HP is fun, the magic is very technological in nature and not necessarily integral to, well, *being*, I guess--the way it is in DIR, and the Earthsea books, say.
But there's so much good stuff in this interview. I like how she talks about Arthur as the "Dark Age war leader" and the sense of an England that's constantly threatened with invasion... those things come across very strongly in the books, I think.
Oh yes; it strips away the romanticization of the Arthur story and makes it very real, I think.
Btw, I've been meaning to e-mail you for nigh on a year now. Every time I begin I forget totally what it was I was going to talk about. I'm afraid I suffer from Weird Email Angst, which is a terrible modern infliction. :)
LOL! I know that feeling intimately *g*. I absolve you of any email angst, particularly as you know I'm terrible at timely replies. I do wish I could get my head back into writing DIR, and I think you should do so as well, purely for selfish reasons *g*.
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Ah, thank you. *relief* *g*
I do wish I could get my head back into writing DIR, and I think you should do so as well, purely for selfish reasons *g*.
Heh, thanks. I think you should write more DIR, too. I know how you feel, though. I'd love to write more DIR, I'd love to get my head back into writing anything! My long and epic DIR WIP has, I believe, finally fallen by the wayside. It's just too old and stale now. I've had a another couple of false starts since then. Maybe something quick and snappy is the answer? I swear, I start a new fic every other day, and every time the amount of words I can write before I give it up as a bad job gets smaller. *tears out hair slightly* :(
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just when i'm dreaming about DIR, and i've never read any interviews with her!
i love her description of writing with the background images, archetypes and narratives somewhere in the back of her mind, but keeping it all slightly out of focus. that's how i want to write.
oh god, how i love those books. thank you!
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i love her description of writing with the background images, archetypes and narratives somewhere in the back of her mind, but keeping it all slightly out of focus. that's how i want to write.
Yes, yes, I thought that was wonderful. And that's definitely how the books come across to me, too, like there's all these depths and layers of stuff that you can slip into accidentally. I love that.
And I love that she mentions Alan Garner and TH White!
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omg synchronicity!
*swoons*
leave it with the Arthurian all right?!
why didnt someone ask her about her favorite colour?
poule x
Re: leave it with the Arthurian all right?!
I'd love to interview her, I can think of loads of good questions.