Comments for DeFlip Side

Comment on Le Guin, Ursula K. by Lena

Lena — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:21:26 +0000

I found the Ged of Tehanu completely consistent with the Archmage of the earlier trilogy.
He was a powerful and intelligent man who survived losing all that had been his, he is in a sense reborn and has to learn a new way of life. After his initial disorientation he does this in the same fashion as he started anew after having released the shadow – intelligent, empathic and determined to do right,
And in no way does LeGuin depict all men as weak/abusive/bad – Ogion is not, Ged is not and Lebannen is not.
As I see it the author introduces the seeing with two eyes already in Tehanu.

Comment on Le Guin, Ursula K. by George Hersh

George Hersh — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:16:35 +0000

Christopher’s response to Ged’s part in Tehanu is fascinating (As Mr. Spock used to say).
The action of Tehanu is not “right after” the end of The Farthest Shore, since Tenar has married and has children who have grown up, left home, and fully and painfully separated from her. In other words, she is not 20 years old, she is a senior mature woman (old), and Ged is no spring chicken either. Ged’s “weakness” stems from the fact that his ability to do magic was burned out of him in the last discharge of power at the end of The Farthest Shore. That ability, for most of his life, had been his strength and his one reliable defense. Ged is learning to live as an ordinary human being, and not a young one, after blazing across Earthsea leaving a trail of deeds and legends behind him. Does this help?

Comment on Le Guin, Ursula K. by Marcus

Marcus — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:36:51 +0000

Christopher, why must a novel be ‘hard’ and ‘realistic’ to be judged worthwhile? These seem adjectives that describe contemporary realistic fiction with its emphasis on anomie, anthropocentric despair and a rather myopic vision of life. Yet Earthsea gives a broad vision of life, not because of any hardness or ‘realism’, but because of the great patience and empathy of the narrative. The writing’s taught and beautiful, but it’s not hard; there are moments of lyricism and revelation that still bring me to tears.

You say that the message of Tehanu ‘was clearly that men = weak/abusive/bad, women = strong/nurturing/wise’. I don’t think it’s about that at all. In Ged’s case, I think it had to do with finding freedom in the giving up of power, in learning another way to be. Le Guin says that the more power a man has the less he’s able to do with it; this remains very much key to the Balance of Earthsea. And I think that Tehanu’s story asks more questions than any of the other stories had been able to frame: what’s a man’s power, what’s a woman’s power, what are the roots of the paradigm of the abuser and the abused?

Comment on DeFlip Side #97: Best (and Worst) Reads of 2009 by laugen

laugen — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 03:14:20 +0000

I cannot believe you never read any Vonnegut, young boy.

Comment on DeFlip Side #101: Man of Iron, Man of Bat by laugen

laugen — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 03:10:19 +0000

when do you work in your garage and on what?

Comment on VanderMeer, Jeff by Chris DeFilippis

Chris DeFilippis — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:48:46 +0000

Point taken and you’re welcome. I always look forward to reading your work.

Comment on VanderMeer, Jeff by jeff vandermeer

jeff vandermeer — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:45:25 +0000

Thanks for the review. I think you might be a little prejudiced by stereotypical fantasy novel protagonists, however, if you’ll indulge me. Put yourself in Finch’s position. He is as active as you can be in such a constrained situation. You yourself would’ve done much less, as would I. The problem is not Finch’s constraints but that most fantasy novels do not acknowledge the real constraints most people face in their lives. Thanks for the review.

Comment on Colfer, Eoin by Jason Nadler

Jason Nadler — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 03:53:03 +0000

Can’t say I’m entirely surprised – I found Mostly Harmless to be Mostly Useless, a unnecessary addendum to a much loved series. The books were never really about the destination, but the journey and Arthur’s bland, Earthling view on the zaniness of the galaxy, which Ford perceives as mundane. There has to come a point where Arthur begins to see the universe with the same bored perspective as Ford, and at that point, there’s no further necessity in reading about their journeys.

Comment on DeFlip Side Volume 1 by Visit the DeFlip Side Vol. 1 Archives!

Visit the DeFlip Side Vol. 1 Archives! — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:34:57 +0000

[...] DeFlip Side Volume 1 [...]

Comment on DeFlip Side #101: Man of Iron, Man of Bat by Brian K

Brian K — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:01:27 +0000

Hey Chris, I heard this last week and just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it! The Dark Knight is the only movie I’ve ever walked out on in the theater, so I definitely agree with you here. I wouldn’t even say it’s technically superior to the Marvel films.
There’s still hope though…the Green Lantern movie will be taking its cues from the current Geoff Johns run, where Hal is depicted more like Tony Stark than the “humorless” version you mention (though I’m not sure what you’re referring to here…then again, before that, I basically only knew a Hal Jordan that was dead, crazy and/or had gray temples.)