DrownedCrow Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 I guess there's no accounting for taste. I'm going to withdraw from this discussion before it turns ugly. Now Grack, there's no need for that. I'm not here to be a troll. If I were I'd mention how much I despise LOTR, but I didn't did I?DC--try some p. k. dick?Good call. I forgot about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cantabile Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 At least nobody has denied the fact that Dune is incredible.Otherwise I'd have to break out a giant fish and slap the person upside the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durckad Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Dune sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cantabile Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Knocking some sense into you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durckad Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Knocking some sense into youWell, I really didn't see that coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aschwiig Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 ...A Canticle for Leibowitz was well written but extremely dull....So, it could even join the ranks of the mainstream literature classics? ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 At least nobody has denied the fact that Dune is incredible.I don't hate Dune, but I do think it is overrated. The major villain is simply Frank Herbert lumping as many "bad guy" motifs onto the character as is humanly possible, with the result that you get a moustache-twirling caricature, rather than an actual human being. The political scheming element may have been impressive for its time, but it has since been outclassed by plenty of other works (ASOIAF among them). And I never really got into the mystical scenes in the desert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 never really got into the mystical scenes in the desert. to be lenin, one must first be timothy leary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Toblerone Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 GB,It was written in the mid 19th Century. The talk of Mina Harker's virtue suprises you... why?1897 is the mid Nineteenth Century? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sariel Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I understand there's no arguing taste and all (though we certainly try our hardest) but how can anyone possibly accuse Jack Vance of having a bad prose? The man is lauded even amongst mainstream literature as a writer with a particularly beautiful prose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser_not_appearing_yet Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Listen, apart from the fact that Dracula is simply about one strange man's obsession with sexuality, it doesn't deserve to be a classic because Bram Stoker couldn't write. The prose is miles below the standard most people expect when it comes to a classic. Its childishly bad at times. And its not even an original. Stoker didn't invent the vampire, nor did he invent Victorian sexuality and obsession with the 'other'.That said, OP there are plenty of excellent sci-fi/fantasy classics, many of which have been mentioned in this thread.How anyone can dislike Jack Vance disturbs me btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Bass Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 1897 is the mid Nineteenth Century?Moreover, I never said it was wholly unexpected - just that it was really annoying after the first 2-3 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolverine Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Out of the books being discussed:I have read Dune and thought it was very good. Read Ender's Game and thought it was excellent and I am one who usually can't read anything near YA.Read 3 Jack Vance books (not Dying Earth) and think he is awesome.Is Hyperion a classic? I thought that was very good also.You can count me as one who thought LOTR was only ok. The second two books were pretty solid but The Fellowship of the Ring was not a good read for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Now Grack, there's no need for that. I'm not here to be a troll. If I were I'd mention how much I despise LOTR, but I didn't did I?Oh no, its not because of you I don;t want to get into this it;s because of me, When Glen Cook comes up I get irrational and start throwing inanimate objects. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheep the Evicted Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Tried it a couple months ago, and.... talk about melodramatic and emotionally manipulative. Maybe it gets better (I read ~250 pages), or maybe it's better in French (or if you read it when you're 12), but that sort of thing wouldn't be published today.I read Kane and Abel because Jeffery Archer was described as a modern day Dumas and by and large i agree. Only Archer is ever so slightly better IMO, either way Archer is published today and to thunderous success too. Personally i thought both books were ripping good yarn, and great feats of storytelling ability, but not much more than that. At least nobody has denied the fact that Dune is incredible.Otherwise I'd have to break out a giant fish and slap the aperson upside the head.You called ? Dune has rather excellent world building but I thought the juvenile grandstanding at end of the book completely let it down. I thought it could have been great if it wasn't for the ending. As for me, i'm going to agree with the others that thought Dracula was an awful novel. Prose, characterization, pacing all fucking atrocious. I imagine its the 19th century Twilight, only Twilight was MUCH MUCH better. And i say this with tongue firmly out of cheek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Holy shit. Did someone bring up Jeffery fucking Archer in a 'Classics' thread? Is that a joke?Fact is, outside of Dying Earth (although FW was a damn good book, but not really a 'classic') the OP didn't really list any of the Classics of either SF or the Fantasy genres. How the fuck can you seriously ask this question, or put forth that you are 'Disappointed by the classics' when you don't point out that you've read Heinlein, Leiber, Dick, Peake, Wells, Orwell, Bradbury (http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/70bf2e4f05/fuck-me-ray-bradbury),Zelazny, motherfucking Gene Wolfe, Verne, Asimov, Moorcock, Lord Dunsany, E.R. Eddison, Lovecraft... ect, ect, ect. The classics list that you OP'd is pretty fucking pathetic. Get some real classics, read those (ender's game.. really?) and re assess your original statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Hat Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Well, if we're talking about Heinlein, I might as well mention that I found Stranger in a Strange Land to be horrendous. Horribly plotted, bloated, devoid of interesting characters, juvenile in its lack of depth, and downright offensive on numerous occasions. Wahooo, classics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Well, if we're talking about Heinlein, I might as well mention that I found Stranger in a Strange Land to be horrendous. Horribly plotted, bloated, devoid of interesting characters, juvenile in its lack of depth, and downright offensive on numerous occasions. Wahooo, classics!Sir, I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Hat Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Sir, I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.Allow me to give you the gist of my newsletter: “Nine out of ten times, if a woman gets raped it’s her fault." Yup, that just screams classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Allow me to give you the gist of my newsletter: “Nine out of ten times, if a woman gets raped it’s her fault." Yup, that just screams classic.Stranger in a Strange land always reminds me a little of my grandpa. Sexist, a little racist, out of touch, but funny as hell. Some would say it's his best work, some his worst. It's not my favorite of his. I'm more of a Troopers man myself. And really? That whole list of authors and you ping on Stranger in a Strange Land (a book i never mentioned)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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