I was going to write a whole long thing telling Orson Scott Card to go fuck himself, but I realized that going through it point by point is not worth my time.
So I'll keep it brief: I haven't read the Lexicon, so maybe Rowling's lawsuit IS groundless, but Card's argument is complete horseshit and I can barely stand it; as part of the article, he brings up court cases that found in favor of Rowling (as in the case of Nancy Stouffer, whose case was dismissed and who was fined for committing fraud against the court), peppers in little self-promotional "the brilliance of MY work..." comments, and takes credit for a story structure that predates the ancient fucking Greeks in drawing the comparison between the broad strokes of Ender's Game and those of Harry Potter.
Orson Scott Card is a pompous jackass, Ender's Game was completely predictable and self-indulgent, and his work will be a footnote in literary history at best, when Rowling's is venerated by each new generation.
Oh, and also, basing stories on the same general literary structure -- a literary structure made famous in the work of Joseph Campbell, not yours -- is not the same as actively plagiarizing your work verbatim, republishing it, and reselling it for profit. You moron.
And that's all I have to say about that.
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5 comments:
I guess what is sad, is the realization by his fans that he is in fact an asshole. It's depressing really.
I like his stories, mostly because in them his characters are trying to unite humanity and help push humanity into a new era of unity and peace.
You have heros who see the big picture, religious leaders who stomp out the fanaticism and intolerance among their followers, and characters who inspire us to be better people.
Then comes the realization that he shares NO FUCKING QUALITIES with ANY of his hero characters. NONE! NOT ONE DAMN ASPECT!
...........
And I was really starting to enjoy "Shadow of the Giant"
While in general i dissagree with OSC (i do read his world watch essays whenver they come out) and thuroughly enjoy his books, i thought that towards the end of the essay he made some valid points. i do agree though that parts of it were self indulgent and bringup the who larry potter and the curious case of the muggles (or whatever it was) was irresponisable.
and his personal stance on the gay community is reprehnsable as well... however the characters in his novels are much more understanding...
Well thats my point. When I write a hero character I put into him or her qualities that I either can understand or qualities that I wish I had.
That being said, with his characters as understanding as they are, I'm left with the truth that he sees the different sides of a issue. He just chooses not to be understanding himself.
I direct you, sir, to the review where he calls Harry Potter 7 "one of the enduring works of English literature" less than a month after it was published.
One could devote a blog to tearing apart the internet essays of Orson Scott Card. His more defamatory political essays range from saying that homosexuality should be illegal, and that out of concern, you should ostracize your friends if you find out that they smoke marijuana.
Wow, he even managed to insult Jim Dale in that post.
I dunno, he sounds.... odd. Almost like "Isn't it cool an author of a KIDS book is successful!"
*shrug*
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