Epic Satire Sunday, Feb 22 2009 

1 loveofbooks 11:17 am

The Concept of Epic Satire

In classic jokes and satirical comedies the turn of events runs quickly. This is because there is little patience for a prolonged joke. This necessitates that epic satire include many side jokes that have no direct bearing on the actual story. Since epic adventures must end with a happy ending the epic satire does too. The big challenge of the author of epic satire is to succeed in ending the story in a way which although happy is not the way one would end an epic tale. In other words, if the epic adventure ends with the hero marrying the princess and riding off, the epic satire must end with the hero riding off and the princess doing whatever she likes (or perhaps with the princess marrying the hero and the hero running off).

The Insight of Satire

Satirical stories are an excellent vehicle for the author to grant us a unique mirror with which to examine ourselves. This is because humor can occasionally penetrate far deeper and more powerfully than mere descriptions. Part of the reason that this is so is because part of the power of humor is that we don’t view humor as referring to ourselves and thus we allow the meaning of the message to land closer to home. The genre of epic satire allows the author to criticize and make fun of our most fundamental concepts of heroes and villains as well as many other aspects of our world. A skilled author can teach us quite a lot while we clutch our sides from laughter. I would like to examine some of Terry Pratchett’s excellent lessons. This I hope to do in my next few blog entries.

 

Diskworld Sunday, Feb 15 2009 

1 loveofbooks 7:34 am

For a Change

I decided that I would abandon the Amber subject for a while and take on a different genre of science fiction and fantasy which requires diligent attention. That is the genre of epic satire. What I mean is the creation of exciting long novels of adventure which are based in a science fiction or fantasy setting and which are full of comedy and satire.

Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is one of several authors who excel at this special genre. He has created several series of books each of which describes a different world. Each series contains elements of science fiction and fantasy and each is replete with funny and amusing British satire of the finest sort. If you have not read any books by this author, now is the time to run out and get a copy of one of his books from your local library or book store! You won’t be sorry! Don’t worry, the blog won’t run away! 

Diskworld

For those who are unfamiliar with the creations of Terry Pratchett, Disk World is the fantasy world created by Terry Pratchett. It is a wonderful world of magic where the entire world is a flat and stands on the backs of 4 giant elephants. These stand on the back of the Great Turtle who flies through endless space. The sun and the moon are shiny objects that orbit the great turtle in his travels. This is a world where magic works although somewhat unpredictably, Death roams the street and occasionally buys a hot dog (or gets his horse shod), rules of physics exist but in ways which differ from what we are familiar with and heroes triumph although not in ways they could possibly have imagined. People who have read Terry Pratchett’s books have generally enjoyed them and they can easily take up several enjoyable hours of reading.

My Plan

I would like to take this model of satire and expound upon it. This is what I hope to do for the next few blog entries. I think it would be a fun exercise. If anyone has read Terry Pratchett’s novels and sees things differently, he is welcome to comment and I hereby tender an official apology to Terry Pratchett and any else who might be offended by my personal views…

 

The Last of Amber Sunday, Feb 8 2009 

1 loveofbooks 8:04 am

A Closing Remark

I suspect that although I have a lot of insight to discuss and reveal regarding the incredible Amber series, it is time to take a break and refresh myself with discussions of other no less fascinating subjects of literary discussion. It is thus, that I find myself thinking over all the deep and innate truths of the Amber series, trying to decide which of these should I end this current discussion series with. There is one truth which pervades the entire story and which is worth learning as a lesson to us all.

It Pays to be Nice

A very powerful and fundamental truth which is stressed over and over again is that it pays to be nice to people. The reason the heroes of the Amber series succeed is because they are always trying to be decent to everyone. Although this means that they occasionally end up being nice to the bad guys and although they are generally blundering through a world of powerful foes, somehow, being nice to everyone helps a lot. Perhaps part of the reason this is so is because in Amber, as in the real world, there is very little absolute evil. In most cases there are just different shades of perspective and egotism. The result is, that people generally have a great deal of good within them. Consequently, being nice to these people often brings out the hidden good that resides in their hearts. For some reason, in Amber, as in our real world, this good generally does not include apologies. Apologies are something that you can almost never get out of the typical Amberite and they are something that no matter how pleasant you are or how right you are, you can never get out of people. So, are we a good reflection of Amber, is Amber a reflection of us?

 

A Mirror of a Shadow Sunday, Feb 1 2009 

1 loveofbooks 11:09 am

A Brilliant Concept

 

 

The world created by Roger Zelazny in his Amber series allows us to enjoy a unique perspective as to the reality which surrounds us. Although our Earth is described as only a shadow of the one true reality, our Earth must, by definition, reflect certain aspects of Amber. These can be seen in Amber and re-examined within our own world. This means that the various motifs that surface in the world of Amber are motifs that pervade our world as well. In essence, Roger Zelazny is holding up a special mirror of our own world for us to gaze into and thereby examine ourselves.

 

 

A Joke

 

 

In fact, when first contemplating Zelazny’s stories it occurred to me that there are three main characters that are bound together by a sort of bond of family beyond that which binds the rest of the Amber family. This bond overcomes the regular rivalry within the family. I am referring to Corwin, Merlin and the Ghost Wheel. I once made a joke about this trio, calling them the father the son and the ghost (sorry if that offends anyone!).  In fact, this joke has a great deal of depth to it and I shall elaborate on this in my next blog entry. For now, I will point out that there are several rivalries that are taking place in Amber. There is a big rivalry which is between Amber and Chaos, there is a rivalry within Amber as to who shall rule the throne (this rivalry is later matched by a similar rivalry as to who shall rule the Court of Chaos) and there are several personal rivalries between the various characters themselves.