Were you able to suspend your disbelief in the entire premise enough to pick up the books? But then the world-building wasn't good enough for you to keep suspending your disbelief?
I don't have to suspend my disbelief to enjoy something, at least not completely. I guess the difference (and I think this is what I'm getting at in the difference with Narnia) is that I get get caught up in Narnia. I don't think about whether the world seem real or not. The thing about the beavers with sewing machines is that I'm caught up enough not to turn that part of my brain on. Rowling, I notice shit. And I still enjoy it enough to go on. But I notice it enough that there is a bit of distance through most of the books. And I don't think I will ever reread Harry Potter. Whereas I will reread The Magician's Nephew, TLTWATW, The Silver Chair , and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader on occasion.
Rowling produces Brechtian Alienation in me, and I don't think that is what she is going for. Lewis may make me angry, but only after I put the book down.
Maybe it because you first read Narnia when a child and Potter as an adult?
Wow, so anyone who has read _Feed_ but hasn't been following the author's LJ should start here . She's been posting a series of 29 daily vignettes of the beginning of the rise. Sort of a prologue in serial form. And it's friggin amazing. 29 days later...we get the next book. Oh yes, my kindle, she will be busy in 11 days. Today i had 2 "ah HA!" moments. One was the 29 days deal. The other was that Marburg virus is a real thing. I went researching it because of the association with nosebleeds and holy crap it's a relative of Ebola. Are there really scientists working on human testing of virus strains that dangerous? Science is terrifying sometimes. I have washed my hands about eleventy times today.
Ok, back to your regularly scheduled reading.
Oh, erin, I'm glad you came and did this for me because I had meant to myself. This is the first one, and this tag should find all the rest if you scroll down. "Countdown" is fucking fantastic, and it's a great addition to the Feed mythology. Even if you haven't read Feed, it's worth reading. When was the last time you read a vignette
from the perspective of a virus
?
The other was that Marburg virus is a real thing.
You hadn't heard of it either! Man, she was giving me shit this morning, like everyone was supposed to know what it was.
I had no idea. She made me go do research! With fiction! On livejournal! Ok, i'll stop oohing and ahhing here and maybe mention that in a comment on the most recent one :)
The other was that Marburg virus is a real thing.
The Coming Plague
is a great book about all the scary diseases and why we're poorly equipped to deal with them.
How cool! I loved Feed and I'm really looking forward to Deadline!
The other was that Marburg virus is a real thing.
I am the creepy person who totally knew about it but only because I find it fascinating. It's got the shepherd's crook tail too.
When was the last time you read a vignette from the perspective of a virus ?
It's WHAT? I am so reading this.
And reading anything by Richard Preston will totally freak you out if you think about it too much. There are bits of Hot Zone that I still have to quick skim through because they are so creepy.
When was the last time you read a vignette from the perspective of a virus ?
It's WHAT? I am so reading this.
To clarify, it's not first-person, but third-person, but it treats the virus like a character worth describing.
As her feathers swept through the air, they collected dust and pollen...and a few particles of Alpha-RC007. The hooks on the outside of the virus promptly latched onto the goose's wing, not aware, only reacting to the change in their environment. This was not a suitable host, and so the bulk of the virus remained inert, waiting, letting itself be carried along by its unwitting escort back down to the planet's surface.
