Comments for Collected Miscellany

Comment on Fairy tales and Fantasies are as old as the world by Lars Walker

Lars Walker — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:27:50 +0000

Absolutely true. I’ve been saying this for years. Homer was a fantasist, as were Dante and Shakespeare and Milton.

Comment on Little Red Cap by Brothers Grimm,Lisbeth Zwerger (Illustrator) by nelly

nelly — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:34:12 +0000

Hi, can i ask you something? I’m looking for children books with such “scary” animal illustrations like wolf (or fox) eating pigs (or seven kids or Red Riding hood or birds in Chicken Little) or being pictured with a fat stomach. Have you seen any book of this sort? Any sort of help is appreciated. Thanks in advance. And happy 2012!

Great blog, by the way ;)

nelly

Comment on American Gods by Neil Gaiman by Blake

Blake — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:59:14 +0000

I realize this is an old post AND my comment here isn’t in response to the review at all, save for the part where you mention the book isn’t easy to categorize. This was one of those random novels that, when I went to pick it up from the library, was not located where I thought it should be. I went to the science fiction/fantasy section – all the libraries in my area group them together – and it wasn’t there. I figured it was checked out, consulted the e-catalog so I could reserve a hold, and instead found that it was available but shelved in the standard fiction section. This struck me as odd, all his other novels were shelved in the science fiction/fantasy section. As you mentioned it contains many elements such as romance, mystery, and road trip… but it clearly contains a dark fantasy element that encompasses all those other elements. So why was it shelved as fiction, away from every other book he’s written? At the time I checked some of my other local libraries, thinking maybe it was just an error on their part, but most of them had shelved it the same way. One had it shelved in both sections which is somewhat legitimate, but I still found it pointlessly confusing, and this brings me to the point I’ve meaning to make. That is, this isn’t the first time I’ve run across something like this. Declare by Tim Powers was shelved as fiction. Sure it combines fantasy and alternate history in equal measure, so one might assume that since it had equal parts of multiple sub-genres it would be best to not put it in any, but there are dozens of other novels that focus more heavily (if not entirely) on alternate histories and they’re all shelved in science fiction/fantasy. Neal Stephenson (Cryptonomicon, Quicksilver, etc), Philip K. Dick (Man in the High Castle), Cherie Priest (Clockwork Century novels). Vonnegut is always found in general fiction as well. It seems that at some point authors whose novels clearly fall into the science fiction/fantasy sub-genre reach some level of esteem which grants them permission to grace the shelves of general fiction, and I can’t seem to see any clear rules on how that esteem is determined. It also seems like a slight on the sub-genre of science fiction/fantasy; only “legitimate” literature deserves the honorable classification of general fiction. I’ve been trying to figure out if maybe I’m missing a good reason these novels belong strictly in general fiction. Since most of these odd-balls received high critical acclaim I want to know why they aren’t shelved were they belong in my favorite sub-genre. There are other novels of high critical acclaim that don’t seem to get this prestigious generalization. So any comments or opinions you might have would be welcome, and since I can’t seem to locate any discussions or information regarding this I’d also appreciate links if you know any. Thanks in advance.

Comment on Night of the Living Dead Christian by Matt Mikalatos by Kevin Holtsberry

Kevin Holtsberry — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:27:57 +0000

Thanks for stopping by, Matt. I am sure you are right about the third book!

Comment on Night of the Living Dead Christian by Matt Mikalatos by Matt Mikalatos

Matt Mikalatos — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:28:23 +0000

Kevin–

I’m disappointed to hear that you didn’t enjoy this one as much as the last, but glad that you found some things you enjoyed in the midst of it. I’m sure my third book will knock your socks off. :)

Comment on Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston by EpiC_CoWs101

EpiC_CoWs101 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:21:07 +0000

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH I AM EVEN DOING A BOOK REPORT ON IT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EpiC_CoWs101 OUT…….

Comment on Modernism, Liberalism & Tolkien by Lars Walker

Lars Walker — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:19:42 +0000

I’d say that’s precisely true.

Comment on Moby-Dick, Cain and Joan of Arc in the New York Times by Why You, Yes You, Should Read “Moby-Dick” Austin Allen « New Age

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:14:37 +0000

[...] Moby-Dick, Cain and Joan of Arc in the New York Times (collectedmiscellany.com) [...]

Comment on The Orthodox Heretic by Peter Rollins by Peter Rollins’ “Insurrection” « Barn Burners

Peter Rollins’ “Insurrection” « Barn Burners — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:05:14 +0000

[...] The Orthodox Heretic by Peter Rollins (collectedmiscellany.com) [...]

Comment on There Goes the Galaxy by Jenn Thorson by There Goes The Galaxy by Jenn Thorson | Unfinished

There Goes The Galaxy by Jenn Thorson | Unfinished — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:16:52 +0000

[...] Facebook message to Jenn: Not surprisingly, I thought the writing was very good and tight, and unlike another reviewer, I wasn’t distracted by the “marketing” chapters and didn&…. They moved the story along so I saw the point of them, which the reviewer admitted he also saw, [...]