tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post4884114929090720275..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: StretchAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-88123645379664968222016-02-18T07:39:49.781-07:002016-02-18T07:39:49.781-07:00I am amused (in a good way) about your comment &qu...I am amused (in a good way) about your comment "What's needed is a different understanding of entertainment. . . ."<br /><br />Indeed. Your work on your world, as you've said before, is a difficult undertaking. And yet, it is entertaining to you. You derive satisfaction from it. You've also educated yourself, whether about historical events, good design principles, or psychology.<br /><br />A few million more people deciding that entertainment involves engaging that gray matter between one's ears would be a good thing.<br />Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15657793356913767894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-68664112553940897112016-02-17T22:01:26.092-07:002016-02-17T22:01:26.092-07:00I am a miserable snob when it comes to literature....I am a miserable snob when it comes to literature. I read nine-hundred and ninety-nine paperback adventures and on the thousandth one I thought to myself, "I've read the same damn book a thousand times." I still read such books, but I seldom consider them good. Just pure escapism.<br /><br />Other than the obvious, for me the best literature has two attributes:<br /><br />1. It is polyphonic. I love Roland Barthes's take on this and I haven't gotten it out of my head since I first read <i>S/Z</i>.<br /><br />2. In it, the author tries something new. That is, after all, why it is called a novel. The attempt at novelty, however, often manifests as gimmickry. But when it works it is sublime.<br /><br />I like your chair analogy. Good luck building your chair. I can't wait to--er--sit in it. (Or stack books on it!)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11448562408805027225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-9670274351079125932016-02-17T20:02:00.714-07:002016-02-17T20:02:00.714-07:00Marvellous, Ozymandias.
I am content to make chai...Marvellous, Ozymandias.<br /><br />I am content to make chairs for bookshelves.<br /><br />Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-2804528711713492032016-02-17T19:57:30.924-07:002016-02-17T19:57:30.924-07:00https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorial_intent
I ...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorial_intent<br /><br />I am reminded of the intentional fallacy: "the design or intention of the author is neither available nor desirable as a standard for judging the success of a work of literary art." (Of course, I do not mean offense here. Please bear with me...)<br /><br />I came to understand this fallacy by way of analogy. A craftsman sets out to make a chair. He puts a lot of thought and effort into the item, and the end result is a spectacular thing. He is approached by a customer; they strike a deal; the chair is sold. Later, the craftsman visits the customer's home and is dismayed to see that the customer is using the chair as a bookshelf. He says to the customer, "What's wrong with you? How could you use this chair as a bookshelf?" The customer simply says, "I didn't buy a chair. I bought a bookshelf. That's what you made, wasn't it?"<br /><br />I bring this up because of the similarity in the analogies. In your case, you seem to be talking about the process of making the chair (whereas the intentional fallacy refers to the interpretation of the end result). During crafting, you go through many steps where you select the wood, strip the bark, cut the wood into planks, cut those planks into pieces, smooth the pieces as necessary, glue or peg the pieces together, smooth the pieces again, repeat the process for more pieces, glue or peg the many pieces into a larger object, etc.<br /><br />But in the end, did you make a chair? Of course I have no doubt that you will be successful there; but to me, it's just interesting to look at the whole process, from the micro to macro, from beginning to end, to pick it apart and see what we can see.<br /><br />Thank you for the insight.Ozymandiashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01065642299277380465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-19549554358179867782016-02-17T16:06:19.126-07:002016-02-17T16:06:19.126-07:00Ah, I would argue that your examples all do that. ...Ah, I would argue that your examples all do that. LOTR, though I have troubles with it, is intensely educational - though perhaps you leave the book with an education that is very different from what a university might offer. Steinbeck is profoundly entertaining - remembering that catharsis and empathy are simply a different sort of entertainment from the norm. Shakespeare has profound stretch; not only have we gained greatly from the spirit of the works themselves, but they have educated the world on how literature works and how it is built, like a chair maker teaching how to build chairs the world has never seen.<br /><br />What's needed is a different understanding of "entertainment"; a different understanding of "educational"; you and I, Lance, both know what an elf is, don't we? The world knows what an elf is. Why? It gives us reason to consider how educational that book really was.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-7725696298628416332016-02-17T15:47:02.855-07:002016-02-17T15:47:02.855-07:00I have long held the opinion, at least concerning ...I have long held the opinion, at least concerning fiction, that there are a few elements essential in a great work of literature: story or plot, themes,and writing or use of language. The mastery of any one of these elements can create a great book, but the inclusion of all generates a real masterpiece. Great story engages the reader and exhibits certain timeless qualities(which has given rise to the popularity of the "hero's journey"). An example is LotR, with a truly epic story; which has proven so engaging that the majority of fantasy fiction for the last 50 years has imitated it in some way.Great themes cause the reader to stop and think about this world around them, and about topics previously unconsidered. Examples are the works of John Steinbeck, and many other required reading in highschool or college English courses.Great writing(or use of the English language) should be fairly self explanatory; Shakespeare being the prime example. Not all of Shakespeare's work has good stories or themes, but all his work are examples of superb writing and manipulation of the English language.I think there was another element that could make a work great, but I can't remember what it was.<br /><br />Anyway, this post made me reevaluate these ideas. Specifically that books entertain or educate or can do both. Immediately I think of a series of children's books, the Animorphs, which I read in grade 4/5. They are not great books by themselves, but they are entertaining (for a 10 yr old) and educational. I learned a huge amount about a large variety of animals, and was urged to learn even more on my own because I read those books. As a child I thought that was a great series of books. So why should I scoff at and have a poor view of those books now? Maybe I need to take "great literature" off of its high pedestal, and consider whether a work fulfills it's purpose: entertainment and education.<br />Lance Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13817319325489613672noreply@blogger.com