I loved his books when I was a kid. :weep:
http://scifi.about.com/b/2009/06/03/david-eddings-is-dead.htm
I only read his first book (a direct ripoff of Lord of the Rings), but it sounds like he lived long and prospered. RIP
:(
I read somewhere that he wrote his books out long hand and didn't use a typewriter or a computer.
I'd last 2 pages doing that. He must of had a grip of steel.
Quote from: grumbler on June 03, 2009, 02:28:42 PM
I only read his first book (a direct ripoff of Lord of the Rings), but it sounds like he lived long and prospered. RIP
He was a good entry-level fantasy author. LOTR, while great, is too dense for most junior-high kids.
Quote from: Ed Anger on June 03, 2009, 02:31:43 PM
I read somewhere that he wrote his books out long hand and didn't use a typewriter or a computer.
I'd last 2 pages doing that. He must of had a grip of steel.
Clearly you've never had to write 5 hour long law exams at college. Cafeeinated chocolate, plus strong coffee with loads of sugar helped speed up the hand.
Quote from: Syt on June 03, 2009, 02:36:30 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on June 03, 2009, 02:31:43 PM
I read somewhere that he wrote his books out long hand and didn't use a typewriter or a computer.
I'd last 2 pages doing that. He must of had a grip of steel.
Clearly you've never had to write 5 hour long law exams at college. Cafeeinated chocolate, plus strong coffee with loads of sugar helped speed up the hand.
I wrote some long ass papers out in High School. I never want to to that shit again. My hands are instruments of godly might, not a scribe's hands.
Quote from: Ed Anger on June 03, 2009, 02:31:43 PM
I read somewhere that he wrote his books out long hand and didn't use a typewriter or a computer.
I'd last 2 pages doing that. He must of had a grip of steel.
You sir, are correct. Was that somewhere perhaps the article I linked to?
QuoteEddings was famously old-fashioned, never using a typewriter or computer (he wrote out his scripts in long-hand) and was well-known for being self-effacing, once remarking, "I'm never going to be in danger of getting a Nobel Prize for literature.
Quote from: Syt on June 03, 2009, 02:36:30 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on June 03, 2009, 02:31:43 PM
I read somewhere that he wrote his books out long hand and didn't use a typewriter or a computer.
I'd last 2 pages doing that. He must of had a grip of steel.
Clearly you've never had to write 5 hour long law exams at college. Cafeeinated chocolate, plus strong coffee with loads of sugar helped speed up the hand.
They gave me a laptop for my Master's exam. ^_^
Quote from: jimmy olsen on June 03, 2009, 02:38:08 PM
You sir, are correct. Was that somewhere perhaps the article I linked to?
I don't read your articles.
Quote from: Neil on June 03, 2009, 02:32:53 PM
Quote from: grumbler on June 03, 2009, 02:28:42 PM
I only read his first book (a direct ripoff of Lord of the Rings), but it sounds like he lived long and prospered. RIP
He was a good entry-level fantasy author. LOTR, while great, is too dense for most junior-high kids.
Agree.
Quote from: Neil on June 03, 2009, 02:32:53 PM
He was a good entry-level fantasy author. LOTR, while great, is too dense for most junior-high kids.
Quite understandable. I was too old for the Ender or Diskworld books when they came out as well, but the fact that I didn't care for them doesn't mean that they were not good.
OtOH, I read the Lord of the Rings in the summer between my fourth and fifth grade school years, so I may not be a typical reader, either. :P
Yes. I re-read his Elenium not too long ago, I loaded it onto my phone to read while bored.
His later stuff was sadly lame, but he was good for what he did. Sad.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on June 03, 2009, 02:58:58 PM
Yes. I re-read his Elenium not too long ago, I loaded it onto my phone to read while bored.
His later stuff was sadly lame, but he was good for what he did. Sad.
I picked up the Belgariad books recently since the SFBC was nagging me to fulfill my requirements. It still wasn't bad.
It wasn't like reading the Elric books and wondering what the fuck I found so interesting about them all those years ago.
Heh. The Belgariad adn the Elenium are decent fantasy. He goes off the rails when he blatantly and unapologetically re-writes them over again, several times in the case of the Belgariad. The later books, like the Elder Gods were terrible.
The Lord of the Rings isnt dense. To be dense, meaning would have to be packed into every sentence and paragraph making it difficult to immediately fully understand without at least some contemplation.
The piece Grumbler posted some time ago was dense. The Lord of the Rings is just long but the sentence structure and the prose is pretty easy even if just skimming the words.
Eddings' books were good mind candy. Short easy straight forward stories that could be read in an afternoon. For what they were I enjoyed them.
Quote from: grumbler on June 03, 2009, 02:58:52 PM
Quote from: Neil on June 03, 2009, 02:32:53 PM
He was a good entry-level fantasy author. LOTR, while great, is too dense for most junior-high kids.
Quite understandable. I was too old for the Ender or Diskworld books when they came out as well, but the fact that I didn't care for them doesn't mean that they were not good.
OtOH, I read the Lord of the Rings in the summer between my fourth and fifth grade school years, so I may not be a typical reader, either. :P
See, everyone is different in that respect. When I was little I would read all sorts of classical literature, but as soon as the hobbits started singing in LOTR I just couldn't keep going. I was in my teens before I went back and finished it.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on June 03, 2009, 03:06:27 PM
Heh. The Belgariad adn the Elenium are decent fantasy. He goes off the rails when he blatantly and unapologetically re-writes them over again, several times in the case of the Belgariad. The later books, like the Elder Gods were terrible.
The Elenium is also the Belgariad re-written. In fact, when he writes the Malloreon, he even writes the repetitive storyline into the story. And then he writes the Elenium and Tamuli as prequels to his first two series.
Quote from: crazy canuck on June 03, 2009, 03:10:16 PM
The piece Grumbler posted some time ago was dense.
Which piece was that (just curious)? Something I wrote, or something I just quoted?
Quote from: Neil on June 03, 2009, 03:20:08 PM
See, everyone is different in that respect. When I was little I would read all sorts of classical literature, but as soon as the hobbits started singing in LOTR I just couldn't keep going. I was in my teens before I went back and finished it.
I think it wasn't until maybe my third read-through of LotR that I actually read, vice simply skipping, the songs! :lol:
You have to actually say them aloud to really appreciate them, and then you discover that they are actually pretty good.
I've probably read the LotR ten times, but I don't think I've *ever* read every single word. There are entire paragraphs (not to mention the songs) that get blazed right through...
Quote from: grumbler on June 03, 2009, 03:41:15 PM
Quote from: Neil on June 03, 2009, 03:20:08 PM
See, everyone is different in that respect. When I was little I would read all sorts of classical literature, but as soon as the hobbits started singing in LOTR I just couldn't keep going. I was in my teens before I went back and finished it.
I think it wasn't until maybe my third read-through of LotR that I actually read, vice simply skipping, the songs! :lol:
You have to actually say them aloud to really appreciate them, and then you discover that they are actually pretty good.
To this day I skip the songs and poems...
I read everything in LOTR the first time, never considered not doing it. My cock is pretty big.
Quote from: grumbler on June 03, 2009, 03:39:10 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on June 03, 2009, 03:10:16 PM
The piece Grumbler posted some time ago was dense.
Which piece was that (just curious)? Something I wrote, or something I just quoted?
http://languish.org/forums/index.php?topic=414.0
A thread that shows how good Languish can be.
Quote from: The Brain on June 03, 2009, 03:48:33 PM
My cock is pretty big.
If we reduce that by the usual internet exaggeration factor of 10 then.....
Quote from: crazy canuck on June 03, 2009, 03:52:37 PM
http://languish.org/forums/index.php?topic=414.0
A thread that shows how good Languish can be.
Ah. Thanks for the cite. I agree that the poem is incredbly densely written, which is one of its charms.
Jabberwocky is another dense poem. In that case, though, the words don't just
seem to be made up! :lol:
Quote from: crazy canuck on June 03, 2009, 03:53:34 PM
Quote from: The Brain on June 03, 2009, 03:48:33 PM
My cock is pretty big.
If we reduce that by the usual internet exaggeration factor of 10 then.....
My cock is tiny.
I only care about your e-peen.
Quote from: grumbler on June 03, 2009, 03:41:15 PM
You have to actually say them aloud to really appreciate them, and then you discover that they are actually pretty good.
And that is when you realize they are actually songs...
Quote from: Neil on June 03, 2009, 02:32:53 PM
Quote from: grumbler on June 03, 2009, 02:28:42 PM
I only read his first book (a direct ripoff of Lord of the Rings), but it sounds like he lived long and prospered. RIP
He was a good entry-level fantasy author. LOTR, while great, is too dense for most junior-high kids.
Yep.
His books about Sparhawk saving princess Ehlana from her crystal sphere while later boinking her constituted as great literature for this 13 year old at the time.
He's second only to Leisure Suit Larry 1 in teaching me the finer points of the English language. :lol:
Ken sent me. :mellow: