The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Post updated here.
posted by Loren Rosson III @ 10/15/2013
The Busybody
Just as cooks pray for a good crop of young animals and fishermen for a good haul of fish, in the same way busybodies pray for a good crop of calamities or a good haul of difficulties that they, like cooks and fishermen, may always have something to fish out and butcher. (Plutarch, "On Being a Busybody")
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10 Comments:
Loren, I still remain unpersuaded by the third Chronicles. I think it is getting more interesting, but whether it will cohere satisfyingly depends on the last book. Donaldson has a tendency to overwrite and strive too hard for the unusual metaphor and a strained vocabulary.
I think he's a little too self indulgent in this series, and too successful to submit to the opinions of his editor, but I'm suspending that judgement until the final book.
Much as I love the Covenant books and respect the Gap series, in many ways I think the humour of The Mirror of her Dreams, or the discipline of the short stories in Daughter of Regals actually hones his talent more than the sprawl of the longer and more prolix narratives.
You're right about the self-indulgences, but as I noted in the review, I happen to share the same kind, so his "crimes" (especially in the third book) mostly don't bother me.
And I still say this last series is going to surpass the first, unless he really screws up The Last Dark. It's amazing to me how boring parts of the first Chronicles are after all these years (except for the incredible Illearth War). But we'll see in a couple years if he bit off more than he can chew.
interesting quotes from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas which resonate strongly with the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
81) Jesus said, "Let him
who possesses power renounce it."
77) Jesus said, "It is I who am the light which is above them
all. It is I who am the All. From Me did the All come forth, and
unto Me did the All extend. _Split a piece of wood, and I am
there. Lift up the stone_, and you will find Me there."
13) ...Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the things which
he told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; _a fire
will come out of the stones and burn you up."_
This is awesome, thanks for sharing (surprised to hear LFB take stick as a book, but I really think AATE is the best of the last set so far!)
The Last Dark is amazing. What an epic finish to an unbelieveable 10 book series.
Absolutely one of the best overviews of the series I've seen, and one I will refer to often in the future. We don't agree on everything, but for the most part, from my view, you've nailed it. Kudos.
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