tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post9151729012496491691..comments2024-03-20T19:40:58.078-05:00Comments on The OF Blog: PoN Review Series: R. Scott Bakker, The Darkness That Comes BeforeLarry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-77781668858289304212012-03-17T00:15:32.728-05:002012-03-17T00:15:32.728-05:00I am several years late to this discussion, having...I am several years late to this discussion, having almost just completed the book. I found this thread after various searches on Baaker's portrayal of women. I am struggling, feeling exhilarated at the ideas and complexity of this world but also repulsed and even disgusted at the fairly uninteresting and powerless female characters, never ending rape. The women: hooker with a heart of gold, sex slave, and crone. The things done to and said about the women are disgusting. Conflicted about reading the rest, am I the only woman out there who likes to read fantasy?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-30882472787572163122010-05-15T16:35:39.165-05:002010-05-15T16:35:39.165-05:00This was my favorite book in the series, and I enj...This was my favorite book in the series, and I enjoyed it immensely both on my first read, as well as my re-read. <br /><br /><i> He is, for good or for evil, or rather, beyond good and evil, a Nietzschian übermensch in a world populated by unquestioning, non-skeptical humans. </i><br /><br />That's a good point. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that, more than any other character I've read in fantasy, Kellhus is simply <br /><br /><i>beyond</i> ordinary moral conceptions of how a person should be. There are plenty of monstrous characters in fantasy, "gray" characters, and "good" characters, but not, in my experience reading, many wholly <em>amoral</em> characters (that aren't something strange, like aliens or the like). <br /><br /><i>This runs so counter to modern perceptions of gender roles as to make several legitimately question as to why Bakker would create such a misogynistic society. </i><br /><br />That was one of the two major issues raised in the gigantic "Bakker on women" debate at Westeros, if I recall correctly. The other was "maybe Bakker <i>did</i> intend it as symbolic and/or meaningful, but the visceral impact of it was so harsh that most women simply recoiled and dropped the series."Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05741738070067590221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-4584537216116762322010-05-13T04:24:00.849-05:002010-05-13T04:24:00.849-05:00He's not that hard to read. To process/argue?...He's not that hard to read. To process/argue? That's a different matter, as I discovered in grad school :PLarry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-12505594791538331822010-05-13T03:55:59.650-05:002010-05-13T03:55:59.650-05:00I think I need to read Nietzsche as well. I think ...I think I need to read Nietzsche as well. I think I have reached that level of maturity and patience.Harry Markovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09140305922494369576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-28615859463229805442010-05-13T03:49:27.624-05:002010-05-13T03:49:27.624-05:00If you like extrapolations from Nietzsche and neur...If you like extrapolations from Nietzsche and neurochemistry, then Bakker's series may be just the thing for you!Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-7610127793088224422010-05-13T03:44:41.240-05:002010-05-13T03:44:41.240-05:00Ah, then this sounds like a tough swallow for some...Ah, then this sounds like a tough swallow for some people. I'm in the mood for something like this. I would like to experience something other than a plot, you know. A theme and perhaps even make me think and or reflect. <br /><br />I enjoy the creative entrepreneurship with plot and world building, but I have other needs as a reader as well.Harry Markovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09140305922494369576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-87330223107796196262010-05-13T03:13:48.270-05:002010-05-13T03:13:48.270-05:00Chad,
I think the series is meant to have that &q...Chad,<br /><br />I think the series is meant to have that "cold" feel to it. But there are some beautiful turns of phrase in it as well, especially in the second volume, which has always been my favorite in the series. But I will agree that at times, the narrative feels too distant for what Bakker may have wanted to achieve.<br /><br />Harry,<br /><br />This is more than just a train wreck sort of event. This is more akin to sitting in on a counseling session and listening to others laying out what deficiencies you have as a human being.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-55552104343937959602010-05-11T16:18:09.656-05:002010-05-11T16:18:09.656-05:00I tried this book a few years ago but the writing ...I tried this book a few years ago but the writing was too stiff for me; perhaps 'cold' is a better word. I never got far enough into the book for the characters to make me uncomfortable.Chad Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17774092046594256969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-42142854182873006692010-05-11T01:11:56.234-05:002010-05-11T01:11:56.234-05:00I believe that reading something that makes you un...I believe that reading something that makes you uncomfortable has to do with the looker-on syndrome. You see a train wrck happen. You see it unfold and you know you shouldn't be looking, yet you can't stop.Harry Markovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09140305922494369576noreply@blogger.com