So, as I’ve written extensively, I’m on a fantasy fiction reading marathon. I finished all those recommended to me from my dear friend, the last of which was the ill-fated Game of Thrones series. That was not satisfying.<\/p>\n
So, as that drew to a close, I was just about ready to give it up and go back to the literary writings I have always loved.<\/p>\n
But, someone recommended a new series, and I’m ripping through that now.<\/p>\n
I feel almost as if I’ve opened a bag of candy corn and I can’t stop the bite-bite-bite.<\/p>\n
This one is good though! Not like the horrible George R.R. Martin series!<\/p>\n
but as I find myself unable to put down yet another fantasy trilogy…I am reminded of something from long ago.<\/p>\n
I was a very young teenager when I discovered Louisa May Alcott. Little Women was the first, but she had quite a few more books. I read them all. Jo’s Boys was not one of the best, I liked Rose in Bloom.<\/p>\n
But I remember Jo struggling to become and author, and how she fell in love with a German professor. He told her she was better than just a writer of “sensation” stories.<\/p>\n
How was a 14-year-old supposed to decipher that? What in the world are “sensation” stories? I could only assume they were bodice-rippers…but they seemed a little more complicated than that. Plus, Jo was not particularly ‘fast’.<\/p>\n
But as I try to make sense of why my literary canon is different from these genre fiction page-turners, I am thinking about Professor Bhaer. I think he might call these fantasy-magical stories beneath Jo’s talent.<\/p>\n
Maybe they are.<\/p>\n
Not that we must always be striving for our best in every darn moment of every day. Escapism has it’s place for sure.<\/p>\n
But I wonder. The other anthology-type reading had more grist to it. More literary vitamins.<\/p>\n
I don’t know what dragons have to tell me about facing my everyday moral dilemmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, as I’ve written extensively, I’m on a fantasy fiction reading marathon. I finished all those recommended to me from my dear friend, the last of which was the ill-fated Game of Thrones series. That was not satisfying. So, as … Continue reading