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No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?
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<blockquote data-quote="SteveC" data-source="post: 9604633" data-attributes="member: 9053"><p>It seems that this topic comes up every time we talk about fantasy not of the current era. The best professor I had when I was in college always started a particular book or play off by discussing the context of the world at the time of the play. If you read Shakespeare and notice that the Catholic characters are ... less than stellar, it's helpful to know about the context of the real-world political situation and who Shakespeare was writing for.</p><p></p><p>Can we read Howard or Lovecraft in 2025? I think we definitely can. I know that a lot of novels of that era and the pulps in general were written from a particular worldview that's changed since then. I think that I'm able to deduce that fact from any book I'm reading.</p><p></p><p>In the real world outside of gaming, I have been involved in discussions about removing <strong>Huckleberry Finn</strong> and <strong>To Kill a Mockingbird</strong> from schools. I argued against removing them as examples of writing that talked about America at a particular time and place. I'd say the same thing about Conan, even if it's a lot less important.</p><p></p><p>I've been around for a long time, but in terms of political or literary movements, I'm just a baby. When we stop reading books of an era because their worldviews are different (and repugnant) to us, we lose a profound connection to the past. And even if we don't know it, we place ourselves to be removed when the views of what's acceptable or not change, as they undoubtedly will. I don't want to step into territory we don't talk about here, but stop and think of how views have changed in the last 20 years. Then, think about the last 40. I find it difficult to share movies I really enjoyed as a kid with my daughter because of some of those changes.</p><p></p><p>In my opinion, read Howard, or Lovecraft, or not as you like. I recommend them to people who are interested in Swords and Sorcery or otherworldly horror, but I give them a caveat. Just like I do with <strong>The Goonies</strong>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SteveC, post: 9604633, member: 9053"] It seems that this topic comes up every time we talk about fantasy not of the current era. The best professor I had when I was in college always started a particular book or play off by discussing the context of the world at the time of the play. If you read Shakespeare and notice that the Catholic characters are ... less than stellar, it's helpful to know about the context of the real-world political situation and who Shakespeare was writing for. Can we read Howard or Lovecraft in 2025? I think we definitely can. I know that a lot of novels of that era and the pulps in general were written from a particular worldview that's changed since then. I think that I'm able to deduce that fact from any book I'm reading. In the real world outside of gaming, I have been involved in discussions about removing [B]Huckleberry Finn[/B] and [B]To Kill a Mockingbird[/B] from schools. I argued against removing them as examples of writing that talked about America at a particular time and place. I'd say the same thing about Conan, even if it's a lot less important. I've been around for a long time, but in terms of political or literary movements, I'm just a baby. When we stop reading books of an era because their worldviews are different (and repugnant) to us, we lose a profound connection to the past. And even if we don't know it, we place ourselves to be removed when the views of what's acceptable or not change, as they undoubtedly will. I don't want to step into territory we don't talk about here, but stop and think of how views have changed in the last 20 years. Then, think about the last 40. I find it difficult to share movies I really enjoyed as a kid with my daughter because of some of those changes. In my opinion, read Howard, or Lovecraft, or not as you like. I recommend them to people who are interested in Swords and Sorcery or otherworldly horror, but I give them a caveat. Just like I do with [B]The Goonies[/B]. [/QUOTE]
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