what fantasy means
excerpt taken from http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2007/11/on-fantasy.html
The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real ... for a moment at least ... that long magic moment before we wake.
Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?
We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.
They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth.
my thoughts (other than general agreement):
fantasy is good for escapism, but i think its more than that. just as there are some things too serious to discuss unless guised as a joke, fantasy can discuss things not discussed in "reality" such as honor and valour. fantasy can reflect society and comment on it indirectly. the famous Narnia series was pure fantasy, but everyone knows the core of the series was really religion. frank herbert's Dune was not only a commentary on current ecological affairs, but also on the political state. i am not even going to go into tolkien, it would be too easy. these authors were respected, educated, extremely intelligent people and they found use for the fantastic. it isn't about genre - it doesn't matter if its fantasy or sci fi or chick lit or erotica or nonfiction - what's important is what you take from it, whether that be information, or a statement, or a belief, or just a little escape from the sucky sucky Real World.
having said all that, i still snuggle my fantasy books.
The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real ... for a moment at least ... that long magic moment before we wake.
Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?
We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.
They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth.
my thoughts (other than general agreement):
fantasy is good for escapism, but i think its more than that. just as there are some things too serious to discuss unless guised as a joke, fantasy can discuss things not discussed in "reality" such as honor and valour. fantasy can reflect society and comment on it indirectly. the famous Narnia series was pure fantasy, but everyone knows the core of the series was really religion. frank herbert's Dune was not only a commentary on current ecological affairs, but also on the political state. i am not even going to go into tolkien, it would be too easy. these authors were respected, educated, extremely intelligent people and they found use for the fantastic. it isn't about genre - it doesn't matter if its fantasy or sci fi or chick lit or erotica or nonfiction - what's important is what you take from it, whether that be information, or a statement, or a belief, or just a little escape from the sucky sucky Real World.
having said all that, i still snuggle my fantasy books.