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From: chrisa@azure.UUCP (Chris Andersen)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Donaldson/Covenant --Another Opinion Heard From
Message-ID: <291@azure.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 23-Jun-85 04:16:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: azure.291
Posted: Sun Jun 23 04:16:56 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Jun-85 05:27:55 EDT
References: <2343@topaz.ARPA>
Reply-To: chrisa@azure.UUCP (Chris Andersen)
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 78
Summary: 

In article <2343@topaz.ARPA> ddern@bbncch writes:
>
>Like any good compulsive sf lover, I'll take a shot at almost anything that can
>be found in the science fiction/fantasy area of a bookstore -- and where a book
>or author's reputation preceeds it, I'll give more than one try in many cases.
>
>I have not read more than half of any book by Stephan R Donaldson.  I've tried,
>but:
>
>  o I could not relate to the main character.  I didn't care about him.
>    He seemed to have the emotional subtlety and sense of a deoderant
>    commercial, to use the first shallow image to comes to mind.  This is
>    not a requisite criterion by my standards, but, in the absense of empathy,
>    there should be some implicit point, conflict or interest to keep me
>    connected.  

Does one have to be a leper in order to have empathy with the guy?  I think not.
To me, the character shows just how much society can ostrasize(sp?) people for
what is essentially a misconception.  Furthermore, I think the idea of the
main character being a leper was the main reason why I got into this story so
quickly.  If someone had asked me what leprosy was, I wouldn't have been
able to give even a half decent answer (I wouldn't be surprised if most
people, beyond a few doctors, would fail at this too).  Leprosy becomes more
then just a disease in this story, it's a way of life for Covenant.

>
>  o Said protagonist (and perhaps others -- memory blissfully dims) had a
>    remarkable and off-putting propensity for obscure, dumb ephithets.
>    "Helleshin!" comes to mind.  What ever happened to "By the crimson bands
>    of Cyttorak", etc?  [ Yes, I know -- this is actually one of Dr. Strange's
>    shellscripts ]

I don't remember "Helleshin!" at all (could you perhaps e-mail me the page 
on which it occurs?),  He did however say "Hellfire!" quite often.

>
>  o Opening any of the books at random, any paragraph I read was more likely
>    than not to be extremely badly written -- overwritten, wrong words used,
>    clumsy, trying to do all the work and not evoking anything.

I'll concede this point.  Donaldson would be a nightmare to most english 
teachers (my gripe: he over uses similes (like, as, as, like, etc.)).
However, consider first that this is the first book he has written and I
wouldn't be surprised if many of todays best sf writers also had bad writing
styles when they first started.  Furthermore, even with the bad writing, he
still moved me tremendously with his story.  Of course, this may have to do
with not really caring as much about the mechanics of writing as about what
is being written.  I think others sometimes allow their demand for good
mechanics to destroy an otherwise pleasurable reading experience.

>
>I think I've given the double trilogy a fair shot, and it's not my pot of tea.

I'm not going to force you to change your mind.  But that doesn't mean I won't
try to shoot down your criticism.

>Given the quantity of books, and their popularity in terms of sales, I should
>assume there is some merit and value.

Never assume.

> And then I think of the Gor books, and
>realize that popularity is no absolute guarantee.

You like Gor too?  :-)

>
>I can believe there is something of interest and value inside these books.  I
>just couldn't get through the surface for it.

How one comes out after reading Covenant may very well depend on how one is
feeling when first picks up the book.  

>
>Daniel Dern

Chris Andersen
tektronix!azure!chrisa