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Post by Grim Wanderer on Dec 19, 2018 13:54:22 GMT -5
I may have to take a look at this. Appendix N was my entire reading list for a number of years. It's funny, maybe about 10 years or so after I was introduced to D&D through 3.5 and sort of lost my gaming group, I started looking for older D&D books and nabbed the AD&D DM's guide for next to nothing. I remember pouring through it like it was a mystical tome. Then I hit Appendix N and instantly took to Amazon and created my own Appendix N reading list. I used it as a guide whenever I hit up Half Price Books and filled my shelves with many of these great titles and authors. I stumbled across a blog more or less reviewing all the books from Appendix N and I started following it with great interest as I was encouraged that someone was doing the same thing I was, and then lo! and behold! the author of the blog posts was the same author of this book, Jeffro Johnson. I feel like there must be something in the air whenever some kind of movement like this happens, simultaneously, to many people at once, and it only takes a bit of wind this this guy's book to fan it into flames. I'm encouraged by what I've seen as a result of the book and blogs, etc, that are riding this movement. Excellent story. Fortunately when I was reading Appendix N all those books were in print and easy to come by. I think these types of stories are due a resurgence. |
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Post by deepermagic on Dec 20, 2018 15:59:10 GMT -5
It's funny, maybe about 10 years or so after I was introduced to D&D through 3.5 and sort of lost my gaming group, I started looking for older D&D books and nabbed the AD&D DM's guide for next to nothing. I remember pouring through it like it was a mystical tome. Then I hit Appendix N and instantly took to Amazon and created my own Appendix N reading list. I used it as a guide whenever I hit up Half Price Books and filled my shelves with many of these great titles and authors. I stumbled across a blog more or less reviewing all the books from Appendix N and I started following it with great interest as I was encouraged that someone was doing the same thing I was, and then lo! and behold! the author of the blog posts was the same author of this book, Jeffro Johnson. I feel like there must be something in the air whenever some kind of movement like this happens, simultaneously, to many people at once, and it only takes a bit of wind this this guy's book to fan it into flames. I'm encouraged by what I've seen as a result of the book and blogs, etc, that are riding this movement. Excellent story. Fortunately when I was reading Appendix N all those books were in print and easy to come by. I think these types of stories are due a resurgence. Absolutely in need of a resurgence! Outside of never hearing of some, of the ones I'd heard of, either books or authors (REH at the time included), I'd either assumed (unwisely) or been led (nefariously) to believe that these books/authors were sub-par. Sort of the junk food of literature. I couldn't have been more wrong. |
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Dec 20, 2018 16:20:58 GMT -5
Excellent story. Fortunately when I was reading Appendix N all those books were in print and easy to come by. I think these types of stories are due a resurgence. Absolutely in need of a resurgence! Outside of never hearing of some, of the ones I'd heard of, either books or authors (REH at the time included), I'd either assumed (unwisely) or been led (nefariously) to believe that these books/authors were sub-par. Sort of the junk food of literature. I couldn't have been more wrong. Well, you've seen the error of your ways and have seen fit to rectify it. Enjoy the journey. What's needed is one or two breakout books and films that don't include flying boy wizards or overwrought plot lines that leave you unsatisfied for weeks at a time. I'm sick of reading what every bleeding character ate for breakfast or what the colour of their hose is, or... well you get the idea.
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Post by deepermagic on Dec 27, 2018 14:07:15 GMT -5
Absolutely in need of a resurgence! Outside of never hearing of some, of the ones I'd heard of, either books or authors (REH at the time included), I'd either assumed (unwisely) or been led (nefariously) to believe that these books/authors were sub-par. Sort of the junk food of literature. I couldn't have been more wrong. Well, you've seen the error of your ways and have seen fit to rectify it. Enjoy the journey. What's needed is one or two breakout books and films that don't include flying boy wizards or overwrought plot lines that leave you unsatisfied for weeks at a time. I'm sick of reading what every bleeding character ate for breakfast or what the colour of their hose is, or... well you get the idea.
I do. I don't mind boy wizards and the like, they scratch an itch. But you are right about the dearth of pulpy action first child-like story telling both in word and on screen. It also seems like over the last 20-30 years any (popular/larger scale) story could do just that, but they are constantly being "updated" or neutered and crafted to fit an agenda. When was the last film you saw a genuine rescue of a damsel in distress? In nearly every take on that there's an ironic twist, either the woman never needed saving in the first place or the man is the damsel in distress. There also seems to be a trend in how heroes almost either hate their own strengths/abilities/unique qualities and so the story is centered/driven on how they lament or suppress their power rather than how they use that power to save others and defeat evil. I'm not saying that's not a legitimate way to tell a story, but it's so overused and often used poorly or in a way to make a statement that it has lost its effect. But back to something you touched upon; pace. The good pulps have a punch you in the mouth kind of a pace that gives you the good and leaves you to fill in the stuff that never needs to be said in the first place. The human imagination easily fills in an astounding number of silent details which don't need to fill up the word count. Movies, obviously, have to worry about a different pace. One of the worst offenders is Peter Jackson. Leaning upon his (admittedly amazing) digital effects tends to bloat a film. Better to leave the audience wanting more than to keep shoving it down their throat after they've had their fill. |
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Dec 28, 2018 11:08:09 GMT -5
Well, you've seen the error of your ways and have seen fit to rectify it. Enjoy the journey. What's needed is one or two breakout books and films that don't include flying boy wizards or overwrought plot lines that leave you unsatisfied for weeks at a time. I'm sick of reading what every bleeding character ate for breakfast or what the colour of their hose is, or... well you get the idea.
I do. I don't mind boy wizards and the like, they scratch an itch. But you are right about the dearth of pulpy action first child-like story telling both in word and on screen. It also seems like over the last 20-30 years any (popular/larger scale) story could do just that, but they are constantly being "updated" or neutered and crafted to fit an agenda. When was the last film you saw a genuine rescue of a damsel in distress? In nearly every take on that there's an ironic twist, either the woman never needed saving in the first place or the man is the damsel in distress. There also seems to be a trend in how heroes almost either hate their own strengths/abilities/unique qualities and so the story is centered/driven on how they lament or suppress their power rather than how they use that power to save others and defeat evil. I'm not saying that's not a legitimate way to tell a story, but it's so overused and often used poorly or in a way to make a statement that it has lost its effect. But back to something you touched upon; pace. The good pulps have a punch you in the mouth kind of a pace that gives you the good and leaves you to fill in the stuff that never needs to be said in the first place. The human imagination easily fills in an astounding number of silent details which don't need to fill up the word count. Movies, obviously, have to worry about a different pace. One of the worst offenders is Peter Jackson. Leaning upon his (admittedly amazing) digital effects tends to bloat a film. Better to leave the audience wanting more than to keep shoving it down their throat after they've had their fill. You are spot on there. The pace of pulp stories seems to be too fast for younger readers today. Which is counterintuitive considering the 140 character world they seem to live in. However, when you look at the choice of words used by writers like Howard, Lovecraft, Smith, et. al., they are clearly well versed in language and expect their readers to be as well. Young readers today don't seem to have the same language skills we did even 25 years ago. There's no retention of fact (I'll just google it is a refrain I loathe), so you can't read a well written pulp story and enjoy it if you are constantly looking up the words you're not familiar with over and over. |
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Post by finarvyn on Dec 31, 2018 10:48:56 GMT -5
But back to something you touched upon; pace. The good pulps have a punch you in the mouth kind of a pace that gives you the good and leaves you to fill in the stuff that never needs to be said in the first place. The human imagination easily fills in an astounding number of silent details which don't need to fill up the word count. Movies, obviously, have to worry about a different pace. One of the worst offenders is Peter Jackson. Leaning upon his (admittedly amazing) digital effects tends to bloat a film. Better to leave the audience wanting more than to keep shoving it down their throat after they've had their fill. You are spot on there. The pace of pulp stories seems to be too fast for younger readers today. Which is counterintuitive considering the 140 character world they seem to live in. However, when you look at the choice of words used by writers like Howard, Lovecraft, Smith, et. al., they are clearly well versed in language and expect their readers to be as well. Young readers today don't seem to have the same language skills we did even 25 years ago. There's no retention of fact (I'll just google it is a refrain I loathe), so you can't read a well written pulp story and enjoy it if you are constantly looking up the words you're not familiar with over and over. I get this. I never enjoyed reading Shakespeare for that very reason, and I can see where a lot of kids nowadays would be equally confused by Howard and others of that era. I keep trying to get my son to try Howard, Leiber, or Moorcock and he just won't do it. |
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Jan 2, 2019 13:53:07 GMT -5
You are spot on there. The pace of pulp stories seems to be too fast for younger readers today. Which is counterintuitive considering the 140 character world they seem to live in. However, when you look at the choice of words used by writers like Howard, Lovecraft, Smith, et. al., they are clearly well versed in language and expect their readers to be as well. Young readers today don't seem to have the same language skills we did even 25 years ago. There's no retention of fact (I'll just google it is a refrain I loathe), so you can't read a well written pulp story and enjoy it if you are constantly looking up the words you're not familiar with over and over. I get this. I never enjoyed reading Shakespeare for that very reason, and I can see where a lot of kids nowadays would be equally confused by Howard and others of that era. I keep trying to get my son to try Howard, Leiber, or Moorcock and he just won't do it. Maybe work your way backwards. Find something he likes that Howard et. al. influenced and lead him down the path. I know that when I find an author I like I'm also interested in the influences on said author. |
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Post by deuce on Jul 27, 2019 19:05:10 GMT -5
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