Eulogy 19

[Skar]

edit by SE: just linking the column: http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1016

If you're talking about the author of Snow Crash, it's Ne*a*l

Not Neil.

[stacer]

Needs a link to the forums. I'll comment later--have the interview in a few minutes, and I don't have time to comment properly right now.

[Mistress of Darkness]

You know, Skar, you're not really one to talk about accurately spelling names given the original subject of this topic. (Eulogy 19)

As for the article, I was a little miffed about the opening line of the article. It sounds like us girls are being pigdeon-holed by EUOL again. But maybe his non-single status is also forcing him to watch chickflicks like Runaway Bride and he decided to try his hand at adding "new goddesses to the pantheon."

[Skar]

It was deliberate.  I don't believe that the Undead Old Lady part really deserves to be capitalized.

[R3E2]

I also took offense to the opening statement.  I know very few girls outside of my masters program (which, BTW, is in Children's Lit) who have any interest in children's literature.  I also know many men (sans girlfriends) who enjoy reading children's lit and do not even have an English degree, let alone Child Lit or Education.

I happened to think the movies improved the books immensely.  I actually happen to be a Jim Carrey fan (I know, I know!), but I did not like his scenes in the movie, probably because I find Count Olaf to be the most annoying villian ever created.  The children's scenes, however, were excellent.  I liked that the movie added more of a plot.  The books seem to consist of "idiot plots," meaning everyone must be an idiot for events to unfold as they do.  Granted, this won't stop me from reading each and every one, in the hopes that the next book will have some semblance of an original plot.

[JP Dogberry]

Mmm...Neal Stephanson.

That man writes faster than I can read.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Skar, it's not just that you didn't capitalize, but we don't have a column of eulogies. We do, however, have a EUOLogy.

[The Jade Knight]

EUOL, consider yourself highly fortunate in the girlfriend department.

Mine forces me to read things like The Da Vinci Code and Steinbeck.

And I still haven't managed to get her reading Hugo or the Lord of the Rings (at least she's planning on reading LotR.  She even owns a copy . . .)

[Skar]

Meh.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Meh.

I'm not sure I can agree with you, but you give a compelling and well reasoned response.

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

balarge faunnel's make very frenacseh bougsaiese.

[MsFish]

I would just like to point out that the SoUE books are not, in fact, YA.  They're juvenile.  And yes, there is a difference.  Quite a large one, in fact.  

I personally have no interest in seeing the movie, because the reason I like the books is that the narrative cracks me up.  The stories are decent, but it's the asides that make the books, so there's really no reason I can think of to deal with Jim Carrey for two hours over it.  

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

Oh oh, Ent, or JP, I'll take this one.

Freaking owned!

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I think you guys are being a bit too hostile to EUOL. It's not like someone outside of Children's Literature as a field necessarily has a reason to know the difference. Seriously. I don't know. And frankly, like EUOL, I don't see the importance in NEEDING to know. It's not a lack of caring... ok, yeah, it is a lack of caring. I suppose I will if I ever try to get this manuscript published that is YA or childrens or juvenile or something or other.

It's kind of a macho thing in some ways, the way that EUOL says he only reads it with a girl. Reading isn't a particularly manly pursuit in most circles. Reading books for kids? Come on, how manly can that be? But on a more serious level, EUOL is a professional author of adult fantasy. Not YA or Juvenile or whatever. And Adult Fantasy is what he normally likes. All he's saying is that wanting to get in with his girlfriend is motivation enough to make the move over. It doesn't necessarily mean it's girly. It means it's not his normal cup of tea, but liking a girl who likes it will make him drink it anyway.

You can't expect him to care about everything you care about. And getting grouchy about it doesn't do anything but make you unhappy.

[Skar]

Heinlein's YA stuff (as I write this I don't know the exact definition of YA, I'm talking about books like, "Spaceship Galileo" and "Red Planet" as opposed to "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" or "Stranger in a Strange Land") is some of his best.

I think generally in YA you're more free to deal with the basics when it comes to theme, motivation, and plot.  Simply because your target audience probably hasn't read much yet or hasn't matured to the point where they can even recoginize the deeper more complicated things that lace "grownup" SF&F.

I for one really enjoy basic themes, plots and motivations when they're done well.  I liked them almost no matter what when I was younger but I can still read them as long as they're not cliched garbage.