Tag Archives: Chronicles of Narnia

Do Novelists’ Personal Beliefs Affect Your Opinion of Their Work?

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Orson Scott Card at Life, the Universe, & Ever...

Orson Scott Card (Image via Wikipedia)

So I’m about 50 pages into my 20th book of the year, Ender’s Game, and coincidentally I ran across this column on the Huffington Post about the author Orson Scott Card. Since I’ve never read Card’s books, I had no idea that he was a Mormon who was staunchly against same-sex marriage. Given what I knew about Ender’s Game, that it was a sci-fi story about a boy genius soldier, I didn’t think Card’s religious views would play much of a role.

And yet, in Chapter Three, Graff tells Ender that his mother was a Mormon and his father was a Catholic. Because of their upbringing, they love their third son even though most families are permitted to only have two children. But they also hate Ender, because he is an everyday reminder that their family does not fit into this society.

I admit that after reading the HuffPo column, I am more aware of traces of religious bias than I would be if I hadn’t read it at all. For example, when bully Bernard is ridiculed for supposedly watching the other boys’ butts, I wondered if this scene promoted homophobia by declaring that being attracted to the backsides of the same sex is somehow wrong and worthy of mockery.

Am I reading too much into this? I just started the novel, so those who have finished it probably have a better idea of its themes. But at least this article got me thinking: Do I like or dislike certain books, just because I like or dislike the author’s personal beliefs?

The answer for me is sometimes. I love pre-modern literature, which is mostly written by racist, sexist, homophobic men. But I just chock it up to the time period and take their words with a grain of salt. And because I can’t go back in time and get to know them personally, how am I to be sure that people like Joseph Conrad or Mark Twain were racists? Anyone who has taken any literature courses knows that autobiography definitely plays a role in a person’s writing, but that you cannot assume that every word of theirs is autobiographical.

On the other hand, I can either love or hate a story whether or not I like that writer’s opinions. My favorite novel is The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, who is a devout atheist. You cannot ignore his anti-religious messages in the story, which is exactly why I adore it. His modern adaptation of Milton’s Paradise Lost demonstrates that churches are corrupt and that there is absolutely nothing sinful about experiencing puberty and sexual awakening, despite what the clergy brainwashes children into thinking.

And because I’m secular myself, I am extremely wary of books with religious messages. I enjoyed The Chronicles of Narnia as a child, but I agree with Pullman that the books send the wrong messages to kids. I refuse to read explicitly Christian literature now, even if it’s disguised as fantasy.

This is why I have a hard time swallowing The Twilight Saga. As a hopeless romantic, I gobbled up this forbidden vampire/werewolf love triangle. But anyone who claims that Stephenie Meyer’s Mormonism doesn’t affect the story is sorely mistaken. If I had a young daughter, I don’t think I would want her reading a story in which the female protagonist marries at 18 to have sex with her overly controlling, jealous boyfriend. Not to mention, Bella gets pregnant after said sex and refuses to terminate the pregnancy even though the vampire-hybrid fetus is killing her from the inside out.

Feel free to agree to disagree, but Meyer’s anti-choice, anti-premarital sex viewpoints, as well as Twilight’s inherent misogyny, do not an excellent novel make in my humble opinion. And I realize that Pullman’s atheistic epic turns a lot of people off as well. I guess the point of this post is that we should be grateful that we possess the freedoms of speech and press, because even if we disagree with an author’s values, that author has every right to include those values in their novels. And nobody’s forcing you to read books you don’t agree with.

So what about you? Do novelists’ personal beliefs matter to you? Are there certain books you can’t stand or just can’t get enough of on the basis of values alone? Let’s get a debate going, guys!

Top 4 Reasons Why “The Lord of the Rings” is Not Just for Kids

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The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

Image via Wikipedia

When I was in high school, my favorite English teacher told me that you should mention only the best literature on the SAT and AP tests. I completely agreed, but for her, that meant that The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien did not count. In fact, she called the series “juvenile fiction.” I know–*gasp* is right!  LOTR is a literary masterpiece, and not only in the fantasy genre. Most magazines and critics even consider it among the greatest books of all time!

Note: Even though LOTR is three novels, I, like Tolkien himself, consider them one story. So I will mostly refer to it in the singular, just FYI.

So to prove her wrong, [and to celebrate buying my tickets today to the LOTR concert in Fresno!!!] here are my top 4 reasons why LOTR is not just “juvenile fiction:”

  1. It’s quite a hefty read. Clocking in at over 1,000 pages, LOTR often reads more like a history textbook than an adventure novel. You have to be able to stomach long lineages and extremely thorough time-lines in order to appreciate the book. And since Tolkien was, first and foremost, a linguist, get used to fully functional languages, names like Galadriel and Uruk-hai, and antiquated diction (plenty of thee’s and thou’s!). But what do you expect from Tolkien, who began writing at 45 and didn’t finish until he was 57? That’s 12 years of extensive world creation!
  2. Realistic, morally conflicted characters. When I think of children’s books, I think of Captain Underpants and The Boxcar Children. Character archetypes + basic, not too difficult obstacles + moral lesson at end. But I think LOTR is more complicated than that. Gandalf is a good-hearted mentor, but he’s not immune to the Ring’s corruption. Gollum’s out to murder Frodo and Sam, but he’s also a victim worthy of pity. Sure, LOTR can be simplified to a tale of good vs evil, but no character is purely one or the other.
  3. Abundance of violence. Of course, violence can exist in children’s books to some extent, but usually it doesn’t consist of a father trying to burn his son while still alive or biting someone’s finger off for a piece of jewelry. Every character plays a role in the wars of Middle-Earth, regardless of gender or size (unlike in Chronicles of Narnia, which usually excluded the girls). And even other children’s books with excessive violence, such as Harry Potter or The Hunger Games, are not meant for the really young and are just as appealing to adults.
  4. Lots of pints and pipeweed. What can I say? Hobbits sure know how to party!
          So what do you think? Is LOTR just kid’s stuff? Is it worth reading as an adult, even studying in school? Let me know what you’d add to the list!
          I’m now counting down the days ’til I watch “The Fellowship of the Ring” in concert!!!

Is the Fantasy Bubble Ready to Burst?

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You know, if fantasy’s dying, then Sean Bean is out of a job!

Yesterday E. D. Kain posted on TheAtlantic.com, “Fantasy’s Spell on Pop Culture: When Will It Wear Off?” an article about how the booming success of fantasy books and adaptations in the last decade might soon come to a slow-down, if not an actual end. How will authors and producers top the fame of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Twilight, and the recently acclaimed HBO series “Game of Thrones,” based on the novels by George R. R. Martin?

I believe that the answer regarding fantasy’s future is deceivingly simple: Those who only enjoy the movies are more likely to grow tired and bored with similar releases, but true fantasy fans will always be ready to support both the classics and the next big thing. I have not read/seen Game of Thrones, (I hear great things about the series, though!), but I’m familiar with all the others I listed and then some. Everybody goes through phases with their interests, as I progressed from animal novels like White Fang to fantasy sagas like His Dark Materials to chick lit like the novels of Sophie Kinsella.

But fantasy is something that I always return to, eager and enthralled by worlds much different than our own. I admit that I love fantasy more than sci-fi (because I prefer elves, magic, and sword-and-bow warfare over robots and aliens any day), but both genres represent escapism. Kain is right: Fantasy has gone mainstream. Fans are no longer just the mouth-breathing, D&D playing nerds in their moms’ basements. But that stereotype to me is offensive, as if all the “cool” fantasy fans will abandon the genre as soon as it gets too popular, like some sort of literary hipsters.

There are hardcore comic-books fans that will still get giddy over the latest Spiderman and Superman comics, no matter how many movies they remake. The same applies to fantasy: some fads like vampires and werewolves will come and go, but the genre will continue to grow and thrive as long as the true fans keep reading…and writing. The bestsellers of this decade have made fantasy-writing even more of a challenge. We shouldn’t be looking for a Harry Potter replacement, but a story that breathes new life and excitement into the genre. And those stories are out there, just waiting to be discovered…

So what are your thoughts? Has fantasy hit a dead end, or is it just getting started? Which stories prove promising, and which ones are just overrated? And perhaps most importantly–what IS fantasy? Has the genre grown and evolved, or have all the crossovers diluted what constitutes true fantasy? Let me know!