"what the world actually did"

[eldritchhobbit]

* I highly recommend this fantastic podcast: The Classic Tales Podcast. These are unabridged, classic short stories by the likes of Mary Shelley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Hardy, and H.G. Wells, read by professional actor B.J. Harrison. (Thanks to sword_gryff.)

* For those who love The Dark is Rising books by Susan Cooper and are looking forward to the film adaptation this fall, there is disheartening news.

* This month's Locus includes "Yesterday's Tomorrows: Robert A. Heinlein" by Graham Sleight. Although I disagree with Sleight in some ways, I found the article to be thought-provoking and well worth reading.


I'm more than prepared to believe that Heinlein established, pretty much singlehandedly, the language in which modern science fiction is told. The tragedy of his later career is, visibly, that of seeing the gap between what he had believed in and what the world actually did.
- Graham Sleight, "Yesterday's Tomorrow's: Robert A. Heinlein"

Comments

[travels-in-time.livejournal.com]

See my icon for my views on "The Dark Is Rising".

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more!

[sneezythesquid.livejournal.com]

Christopher Eccleston, on whether or not he had read the books: "No. I'd never heard of the books, but as a child I was hugely passionate about LORD OF THE RINGS. I understand the kind of passion that people feel for these books. I think they should be left for childhood. People say 'Lord of the Rings was the greatest novels ever written’. You're like, no, they're not. They're childhood.

Okay, I loved Eccleston as The Doctor, but after reading that I want to beat him repeatedly about the head and shoulders with the Past Watchful Dragons book.

[travels-in-time.livejournal.com]

Every time I read something about him, or something he said, it amazes me that he could play the Doctor with so much passion and conviction when apparently he thinks that nobody should take it (or anything else, like LOTR or TDIR) so seriously. I guess that's why it's called "acting".

[sneezythesquid.livejournal.com]

I guess that's why it's called "acting".

I guess so.

I'll have to put him in the same box I have Card in: "Like the work, think the person is an idiot." :)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

but after reading that I want to beat him repeatedly about the head and shoulders with the Past Watchful Dragons book.

*cackles in appreciation*

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

You know, if you're going to change a story as much as that, why don't you just giving another title and call it an original movie? Bah. I was already dealing with my disappointment that Eccleston wasn't Merriman (which is going to screw me up royally upon re-reading.)

The podcasts are lovely - Interesting voice/style the actor has.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

You know, if you're going to change a story as much as that, why don't you just giving another title and call it an original movie?

I agree. It's one thing to have to make a few changes because cinematic storytelling requires different ingredients than literary storytelling. But to jettison the heart of the entire book from the word go seems ridiculous to me. Like you said, why not make it an original movie instead?

I'm glad you like the podcasts!

[estellye.livejournal.com]

Well that sounds rather more like butchery than adaptation, but I shall try to keep an open mind nevertheless. Maybe they will surprise me. *she says optimistically*

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I hope you're right! It sounds like it might make for an interesting original movie. I just wish that hadn't borrowed the title from another story in order to tell it. ;)

[mizz-history.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Podcast link. I've been trying to get hold of copies of those Poe stories to play in my classe. These should be perfect :o)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Great! I'm so glad it's useful. I was very excited to hear about the podcast. I think the reader does a really nice job, too.

[mizz-history.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I listened to The Cask of Amontillado to see how his reading was and I as pleasantly surprised. I'd found another free site but their readings were not so good. these I'll be happy to play in class :o)

[rosamundeb.livejournal.com]

Thanks - a VERY interesting article. I thought this was especially true - *G*:

"Heinlein had a sweet tooth for knowingness, for demonstrating smartness, especially when it upsets conventional wisdom."

But I was a bit disappointed; from the title I thought it would compare how the future turned out vs. what Heinlein imagined. I actually just re-read "The Door Into Summer", and it was a blast looking at how he imagined 1970 and 2008. The biggest thing that hit me was the absence of the computer and the internet. Being an engineer, he had a very Newtonian view of things, a very nuts-and-bolts imagination about what would be created in the future. So, when he came up with a way of making drafting easier in the future, it ended up being a drafting machine that works like a typewriter: press certain buttons and it daws lines for you. Interesting how it turned out instead!