From: clc@kepler.unh.edu (Christian L Claiborn)
Subject: Re: Piers Anthony
Organization: University of New Hampshire  -  Durham, NH
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 17:11:03 GMT

In article <1992Sep15.110726.1@pearl.tufts.edu> mweinste@pearl.tufts.edu writes:
>In article <1992Sep14.180157.5758@pbhyc.PacBell.COM>, djdaneh@pbhyc.PacBell.COM (Dan'l DanehyOakes) writes:

>Basically like the above paragraph.  Actually, many of Anthony's works, such as
>Firefly, are very smoothly written.  There are times that sections of his works
>sound more like poetry than prose.

I don't think anyone's disputing whether or not Anthony's early stuff has merit.
I do believe, however, that Dan is referring to the Xanth books and their ilk,
where I have noted the [deleted] flaws.
>
>> Then try reading some of his fiction with a dictionary near to hand -- look up 
>> some of the less-familiar words he uses and see if they make any sense in the 
>> context he uses them in.  Oh, I grant that some and maybe even most will:  but 
>> there's enough that don't that it's clear that he's using words _he_ doesn't 
>> understand, and propagating his misunderstandings to minds that, precisely 
>> _because_ they're engaged in the purely passive activity of enjoying a "read," 
>> have their critical filters down.
>> 
>I don't know which words you're referring to, but perhaps Anthony is more
>literate than you, and therefore knows more about the connotations of the words
>than a dictionary can give.  In fact, I rarely, if ever, come across words I
>don't recognize in his books.

Uh, he does use words incorrectly.  As an English major, I'm often appalled to
find things like "disinterested" used for "uninterested," and I've seen other 
words frequently misused.  Additionally, in several of these novels he's gone
to the trouble of defining the words to other characters without a real 
knowledge of their connotations.  Anthony is not a skilled wordsmith.  
>
>Anthony doesn't present all of his characters as idiots, but frequently as
>normal people.  Unlike some authors, who develop charcters which are perfect
>and all-knowing except for one or two specific flaws, Anthony's characters are
>believable.

If you believe that your characters should have the average IQ of a small 
Saharan desert rat.

>
>He also uses Dramatic Irony... maybe you've heard of it. 

I've heard of it.  It's nice of you to capitalize it for me, too.

> This technique allows
>the reader to know what's going on while the characters are oblivious.  This is
>a common and effective style of writing that is used by Shakespeare, Hugo,
>Updike, Tolkein, and hundreds of other authors.

This technique is generally effective in literature because it conveys
to the reader a sense of co-conspiratorship.  The reader is actually helping
the author hide the awful truth from the characters.  However, the primary 
reason it doesn't work really well in Anthony is because the reader gets the
feeling that Anthony is just making it all up as he goes along.  That's not 
particularly shocking news to anyone except for those who've actually 
attempted to write professionally or semi-professionally, as these people
realize the importance of a well-plotted work.  Anthony actually gave an
interview on a local morning show in the NH area where he admitted that he had
little idea what he was going to write or do next inside his novels.


					clc
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