Welcome to my weird world!

Challenging opinions

"Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. Life would undergo a change of appearance because we ourselves had undergone a change of attitude"
Katherine Mansfield

Until today I didn't like fantasy.

This wasn't because I hadn't tried to like it. Believe me, I had. Carrie is an avid reader of fantasy, and extols its virtues. I believe strongly in always trying something new. I also believe in trying to see a virtue in everything. I have tried reading fantasies by a variety of authors. Some I finished. Some, I couldn't even get past the first page.

I like reality. That isn't to say that I only want to think about my own reality: I love nothing better than to immerse myself in someone else's life. No, it would be more fitting to say that I like realism. When I read, I like to think (or know) that what I am reading could really (or did really) happen.

That has never been possible for me with fantasy. Until today.

Ironically, it wasn't one of the famous, published authors that brought about this change of attitude. It was the work of two authors on this site: Arakun the Twisted Raccoon and tailennion

In particular, these two items:

An Unbelievable World  (ASR) a fantastic world is born in a writer's imagination #1210242 by Arakun the Twisted Raccoon

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #1281461 by Not Available.

The second isn't even a completed piece of work, and yet it is so beautifully crafted that it has achieved what Richard Adams, Adrian Cole, Kate Elliott, Fletcher Pratt, Jonathan Stroud and countless others could not. It has persuaded me that fantasy can be realistic.

Both of these pieces are art. They are not just writing: they capture something of the breathlessness that is brought on when viewing an incredible painting, or a magnificent sculpture. Both of these authors have taken their words and moulded them around something born of their own imaginations. Something so completely developed that it becomes real.

Somewhere there is a world where people turn into birds and fly to work. There really are animals that can communicate with their 'familiars'.

I have finally found some fantasy that I like. Some fantasy that I would read again. Some fantasy that I would recommend to other non-fantasy-fanatics.

As a child I had an incredibly active imagination. Perhaps, after all, there is a reason to let it roam!

"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning"
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

***

As you may gather, I have been doing some reading this evening. I finished work a bit early (20:00 ), and came in search of something to relax with. In my off-line world I am currently reading Sir Robin Day's autobiography. It's pretty heavy-going, and I was looking for something shorter and lighter. Something that I could think about and, indeed, review.

I must confess to having got quite into the idea of reviewing. I haven't done that much of it yet, but it is such a great way of getting involved. I am sure that it also helps to improve my writing. In evaluating what works and what doesn't in other people's work, surely I must start to learn the same for my own?

I also discovered the 'active reviewers' page today, and was rather thrilled to discover that I am #136 on the list. Okay, so 135 people are ahead of me, but still, I'm pleased!

For those who do like reviewing, or want to do more of it, you should read this:

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #1290842 by Not Available.

I think it says it everything that should be said about reviewing. Every reviewer should have read something like this at some point (yes, I know that there are other similar pieces out there).

***

On that note, I am going home for my tea (it is now after 9pm), and to think on my change of opinion. There is a train of thought that says I am now more intelligent:

"I happen to feel that the degree of a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic"
Lisa Alther in Kinflicks, 1975