Badmike wrote:Just out of curiousity, anyone else enjoy binges in the pulp fiction ocassionally? I myself am hooked on the noir/hard boiled novels of the 20s-50s, writers like Paul Cain, Raymond Chandler, Howard Browne, Cornell Woolrich, Charles Williams, Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Dashiell Hammett, and others. I've long noticed the many similarities between this sort of crime fiction and the fantasy fiction of the time...not surprising, since a lot of the stories share the same authors and same types of magazines (the pulps) during the same time of being created (early 20th century, post WWI). Both also generally deal with the same archetypes (A Quest, A Beautiful Girl In Trouble, A Powerful Villain, A Treasure at the End, etc etc) in the same sort of formulaic device, except like any great literature a master can blow you away with the beauty of the writing (think Howard for fantasy, Chandler for detective fiction). Nothing I like more than pouring a stiff drink or a bottle of beer and settling back to read about a down and out Private dick who operates out of a shabby office on the West or East Coast, a bottle of cheap booze in his bottom drawer, taking a case involving a beautiful woman, dark bad guys, rich scumbags with dark secrets, and who despite talking and acting tough has a stubborn moral code and a toughness that allows him to see a case to it's final conclusion no matter what the cost or body count. Mike B.
Keith the Thief wrote:Don't forget Fredric Brown's mystery stories. They're often overlooked, yet a lot of fun to read.Keith
HermitFromPluto wrote:I don't read much fantasy pulp fiction, but do enjoy old Scifi Magazines from the 50s and 60s.Hope I am not intruding on a conversation here, but I have a pulp related question. I may have mentioned this before, but I used to read a fair amount of fantasy, but found the genre extremely limited. It is the same story over and over. Ordinary person becomes herop, goes on adventure etc. I may try that Fantasy Masterworks series - that is certain to have some good titles I've missed. Anyway, back to the question:Has anyone read any of these dime a dozen, D&D fantasy novels? Are they any good? Or an easy way for bad writers to sell a lot of books? It seems to be the modern day fantasy-pulp? Have these boosted or harmed the genre?I tend to buy books based on positive critical reviews. And critical reviewers obviously don't even read those D&D novels.
Marlith wrote:Speaking of hard to find favorites...as well as more than their share of sex and violence...John Normans Gor series.
sleepyCO wrote:Whatever happened to the Gor series? I remember seeing it in bookstores until about, oh, ten years or so ago and haven't seen it since.
sleepyCO wrote:One other thought . . . I see the list of authors are sci-fi, fantasy, etc. What about someone like Tom Clancy?
Badmike wrote:Gor -- The "sex" is silly and wouldn't excite a 14 year old boy with raging hormones. Mike B.
IttyBitty wrote:Well, after reading some of the comments here I decided to order (from Amazon) The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane.
Badmike wrote:BTW, is it me, or is Clancy just not a very good writer? I think he has a very awkward style and turn of phrase, and lost interest in his style after a few of the books.Mike B.
Keith the Thief wrote:It's not just you. However, folks in my line of work (aerospace) love his novels. Of course, I'm surrounded by people like Milton from Office Space.I have trouble reading Ursula K. LeGuin for the same reason: awkward prose. I struggle to even get through a short piece, like one of the EarthSea books. And I never could figure out what made "Buffalo Gals" a classic.Keith
FormCritic wrote:Well, I have to differ with you there. I know of at least one teenager who thought it was pretty interesting.I think I just had access to better porn at that age.... But even a much younger version of myself eventually realized that Norman wasn't offering anything except sadism and sexual brutality disguised as a story. It got boring after a while and downright sickening a little while after that.True story: I've been selling Norman/Gor novels for years, and the vast majority (I'd say at least 80 percent) of the buyers are women. I have theories...either they are buying them to destroy them, they are curious about being dominated/disciplined, a male friend told them "These books are great!", or women on the whole have very, very bad taste in literature. Pick your favorite. The first five books at least have some story elements in amongst all the hatred of women and a truly demented worldview. Assassin of Gor is a good read...if one can stand wading through all of the retarded sexuality in the book.
FormCritic wrote:Well, I have to differ with you there. I know of at least one teenager who thought it was pretty interesting.
But even a much younger version of myself eventually realized that Norman wasn't offering anything except sadism and sexual brutality disguised as a story. It got boring after a while and downright sickening a little while after that.
The first five books at least have some story elements in amongst all the hatred of women and a truly demented worldview. Assassin of Gor is a good read...if one can stand wading through all of the retarded sexuality in the book.
