tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post8832092756760403679..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: Magnus OpumJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-1917204067329031522013-05-11T15:17:32.942+01:002013-05-11T15:17:32.942+01:00Page liked, Paul. Still not seen the first film ye...Page liked, <b>Paul</b>. Still not seen the first film yet. I may watch it this month while my wife is in the States. I tend to save up films and TV she’s not terribly interested in for when she’s away and <i>The Hobbit</i> is on my list of things to get round to and as it’s a particularly poor list this time round I can’t see me avoiding it. I do have the soundtrack album—my stepson bought me a copy last Xmas—to add to the three albums from the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> trilogy. Only listened to it once but it was pleasant but not as memorable as <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i>. I remember there were songs but none of them stuck.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-77511136108475008272013-05-07T18:08:44.256+01:002013-05-07T18:08:44.256+01:00Jim-
I agree three (long) movies is a lot for The...Jim-<br /><br />I agree three (long) movies is a lot for The Hobbit. I also wish Jackson hadn't created his own comic relief (bird crap in Radagast's hair) when Tolkien provided it in abundance (ALL the animals and monsters talk, and there are many comic songs). So much of that story is wonderfully lighthearted to begin with.<br /><br />On the other hand, two more Hobbit movies means I have two more years to sell The Wobbit. Not to mention The Superfriends Of The Ring, which will be available from Amazon this summer and as a German-language paperback in October.<br /><br />Feel free to Like the Facebook Page for The Wobbit A Parody and promote your books there. It's the least I can do.<br /><br />Thanks again!<br />Paul Ericksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12237966238684348671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-81800357745473844062013-03-07T10:56:38.623+00:002013-03-07T10:56:38.623+00:00Sorry not to respond to your comment sooner, Paul,...Sorry not to respond to your comment sooner, <b>Paul</b>, but it was awaiting moderation and I missed it. No, you’re preaching to the choir here. My last book has been described as a pastiche of Beckett’s <i>Mercier and Camier</i> and trying to pique any interest for a book like that was far, far harder than I ever expected. I thought Beckett was much more popular than he obviously is. Happy to do what I can to promote other authors out there though. We all need all the help we can get.<br /><br />That said I’m not exactly sure I’d describe myself as <i>passionate</i> about Tolkien and I really, really can’t see why we need three films to bring <i>The Hobbit</i> to the silver screen.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-74642976619595870852012-11-12T18:25:07.741+00:002012-11-12T18:25:07.741+00:00Thanks for mentioning my book, The Wobbit A Parody...Thanks for mentioning my book, The Wobbit A Parody, on your blog. Creating buzz is far more difficult than I ever imagined.<br /><br />I'm glad you put The Wobbit in the company of Bored Of The Rings. There are huge differences in how the two books parody Tolkien, but they appeal to a similar audience.<br /><br />Thanks also for including a link to my website. It's amazing that anyone can find anything on the Internet. I've been very fortunate, though. Kindle and Amazon have been very good to me. As a result of my Kindle promotions, I caught the attention of an editor from Piper Verlag, who will publish The Wobbit in German. I'm hoping they can sell the English language rights soon. Until then, I will be the David Hasselhoff of parody writing.<br /><br />Both you and I are passionate about Tolkien's writing. My hope is that my love for The Hobbit is apparent in my parody of it.Paul Ericksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12237966238684348671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-22511343915870064492012-05-13T11:45:08.231+01:002012-05-13T11:45:08.231+01:00To be honest, Dave, had I not had my interest piqu...To be honest, <b>Dave</b>, had I not had my interest piqued by Jonathan’s earlier books I might very well have passed on this one too. I wasn’t terribly keen about the book being based on Tolkien. Yes, he was great when I was a kid but it’s also fair to say that I really wasn’t very well read when I encountered him; I only really started reading after I left school and even then in fits and starts. My inner child is still alive and well—I’m perfectly happy to curl up with an old Batman comic—but he’s a more … what shall we call him? … refined inner child these days. He’s always bored quickly and he would have preferred if Magnus had travelled lighter and quicker but then I’m not sure I’m Jonathan’s ideal reader, not by a long shot. Some of the set pieces, if I can use that term, worked well—the avaricious Plergle-Brots were a delight as was the cookery-obsessed Blerchherchh and the Glurgs reminded me a little of Fungus the Bogeyman—but I’m fifty-three and whereas I’d be happy to watch a five minute cartoon featuring any of the above, a feature film would stretch my patience; I, for example, turned off <i>The Grinch</i> after a few minutes and I never got through <i>The Cat in the Hat</i> either although I did enjoy <i>Horton Hears a Who!</i>.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-65408641755894868792012-05-13T10:58:23.488+01:002012-05-13T10:58:23.488+01:00Almost you convince me, and had I had no previous ...Almost you convince me, and had I had no previous encounter with Tolkien, you might have,but he completely failed to engage my inner child - or I, on his behalf, failed. And Dr Seuss, I am afraid, is anathema to me, so I doubt this book stands any chance at all with me, despite your excellent review.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-12690091628542216522012-05-12T17:56:22.225+01:002012-05-12T17:56:22.225+01:00I think I’ve been very honest in this review, Art,...I think I’ve been very honest in this review, <b>Art</b>, in admitting just how little experience I have of fantasy literature. To be honest my knowledge of science fiction <i>literature</i> is restricted to a handful or authors, the top two being Philip K Dick and Asimov but for different reasons. The only extended work of fantasy writing that I have read apart from <i>The Hobbit</i> forty years ago is the Vertigo comic series <i>Fables</i> which I quite enjoyed. I’m sure I would enjoy Terry Pratchett and I really, really must make time to read something by him. If I come across as dismissive in any way then simply accept that as evidence of my ignorance; I don’t know what I’m talking about. If Jonathan had written a pastiche of any other fantasy writer I would have been completely out of my depth but I thought seeing as it was <i>The Hobbit</i> he was basing his own book on and I was already familiar with his style that I could give a fair review besides there will be those who have never read <i>The Hobbit</i> who will read <i>Magnus Opum</i> and not make any of the connections that you or I might.<br /><br />I watched the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> trilogy out of a sense of duty, the second two especially, and I really couldn't be bothered sitting through them again but I will watch the two forthcoming films of <i>the Hobbit</i> just out of curiosity. I knew I would never read the book and I didn’t like being ignorant. Now I know what the book is about I am even more convinced that I will never read it and as much as I’m enjoying <i>Game of Thrones</i> I haven’t the slightest interest in seeing what the source material is like. However, having just watched the not-nearly-as-good-as-I’d-hoped-it-was-going-to-be latest version of <i>Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy</i> I would happily pick up that book again. That said I’ve never read any espionage writers bar le Carré so I’m as ignorant about all the other writers in that field as I am about fantasy novelists but having read le Carré before and being impressed by his as a writer, full stop, and not <i>just</i> a writer of spy thrillers, I would read him again. I think I’ve read all his ‘Smiley’ novels, even the two early ones, at least all the ones where he’s a major player.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-81653174436984747642012-05-12T15:37:28.206+01:002012-05-12T15:37:28.206+01:00If you haven't actually read Lord of the Rings...If you haven't actually read Lord of the Rings, I have to say, there's a lot missing I. Your reading of fantasy. It's of an entirely different order of storytelling, for one thing. The Hobbit really is a children's book by comparison, LoTR is mud darker and more magical.<br /><br />Now, I really like the movies, although I can tell you where they deviate from the books, and am not a purist about whether the books are better than the movies. But seriously, the awe is there in the books. The characters do expressway in the films, but the reader experiences more in the books; this is their world after all. I think they would all be pretty awed by smartphones in our world, which we take for granted. It's all about what you're used to.<br /><br />I've read a great deal of other fantasy, and even more science fiction. I've read other writers who have at least matched Tolkien in world building, and sometimes gone further. His style is a particular style, which admittedly has been imitated a lot. But there are other series out there which really are quite different and original. <br /><br />Which is why I disagree with the faint edge herein of dismissiveness of a genre quite a bit richer than its given credit for. But then, as you know, I read a LOT.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-11106315876123929082012-05-10T23:03:27.045+01:002012-05-10T23:03:27.045+01:00I see where you’re coming from, Kirk, but I suppos...I see where you’re coming from, <b>Kirk</b>, but I suppose, looking at it the other way, that that is what some people would want, to see and experience the world in the same way as the characters for whom magic and fantastical creatures were the norm; isn’t that why we read and watch films ideally, to get inside someone else’s skin and not be merely an observer? I’m playing devil’s advocate here. I actually don’t mind special effects blending into the background so that the acting and the writing can shine through. I’ve just watched <i>Real Steel</i> of which I knew nothing before I put it on other than it involved fighting robots. What it was was, for all intents and purposes, a remake of <i>The Champ</i> with robots taking most of the beating; there’s an (inevitable) bit of <i>Rocky</i> in there too. The thing was the robots are, by this time, just a part of day to day life. Kids still ooh and aah at them in the same way they’d drool over a cool motorbike but that was perfectly believable. Carrie and I have been enjoying <i>Game of Thrones</i> of late. We’re behind everyone having just finished the first season and what I have liked about it is its commitment to presenting as realistic version of the writer’s world as possible right down to the northerners having north of England accents. I also have no problems with those directors who go completely the other way, as did Lars von Trier in <i>Dogville</i> where the whole thing is filmed on a soundstage and the buildings are just indicated by white lines on the floor. I don’t need realism but if you’re going for it then go for it. Where for me, Jonathan’s book let me down—although I fully accept that it did what he intended it to do—was that his characters lacked the kind of depth I enjoy in something like <i>Game of Thrones</i> and are not just pawns being shoved around. It’s one of the reasons I hated <i>Tintin</i>. I never thought for a second that they weren’t going to land on their feet no matter what happened and I especially hated the dog doing his Lassie/Skippy/Flipper impressions. Storytelling has moved on. Tolkien is one of the giants whose shoulders newer writers stand on but his achievements have been surpassed. Jonathan does a good job of mimicking (without taking the Mickey out of) Tolkien’s world but I would have liked to have seen him step things up a gear. Maybe with the next book.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-26064074356362072072012-05-10T22:00:10.530+01:002012-05-10T22:00:10.530+01:00The problem I had with the Lord of the Rings movie...The problem I had with the Lord of the Rings movies, is that Peter Jackson filmed them in such an ultra-naturalistic style, that when something SUPERnatural occured, it took me right out of the story. I'm not saying cinematic realism and the metaphysical can't co-exist, as it did in two of my favoite TV shows of the last 20 years, The X-Files and Lost, but there you had characters as awed at the existence of magic as I would be in that situation. The characters in Lord of the Rings, however, took the supernatural for granted, as was their right seeing as they were elves or something, but I couldn't. Yet I have no problem with the movie version of The Wizard of Oz, because nothing in that looks natural, not even Kansas.<br /><br />I know you're talking about books instead of movies, but that pretty much sums up my experience with Tolkien.Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02155991693956178030noreply@blogger.com