I recommend you read the book. It's not long and it leaves an impression.
-
Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!
Remarkable Works I've Read
- Thread starter skip.knox
- Start date
pmmg
Myth Weaver
Here's one you might like. My Father in Law had it. Kind of a diary of a mountain man in western Maryland. Has a lot of how he managed the wild, tracked, chose his guns, lived his life and all that.
44 years of the life of a hunter
44 years of the life of a hunter
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll bookmark it. Sounds like it's up my alley.
- Thread starter
- #24
Currently reading a couple of worthwhile books. One is Edmund Burke's essay on the French Revolution. It is about what I'd expected, but I came across a statement that has stuck with me. It is as good a statement of the ideal of knighthood (mind you, the ideal, not the reality) as I've seen. I post it here in case it provides some inspiration to my fellow writers.
It is part of a longer statement about what sort of people would be likely to take up the cause of overthrowing a government; revolutionaries, in short. The full sentence speaks of the wise, the sensitive, and ends with
""the brave and bold, from the love of honorable danger in a generous cause:"
I love that statement. The brave and the bold, because it is possible to be one without being the other. "Honorable danger" is an example of Burke's careful phrasing. Danger itself is not worthy of love, for that is mere recklessness, which is to say acting without reckoning. Only honorable danger is worthy of the true knight (or patriot). But even that is not enough. It must be honorable danger "in a generous cause."
So nicely put! There are many causes, but the worthy knight must support only the generous cause, the cause that benefits others rather than himself.
While I might not care for Burke's politics, and I certainly don't agree with his history, I have to admire his abilities as an essayist. I don't think one could craft a more compact statement of an ideal knight than one who is brave and bold, who loves honorable danger in a generous cause.
It is part of a longer statement about what sort of people would be likely to take up the cause of overthrowing a government; revolutionaries, in short. The full sentence speaks of the wise, the sensitive, and ends with
""the brave and bold, from the love of honorable danger in a generous cause:"
I love that statement. The brave and the bold, because it is possible to be one without being the other. "Honorable danger" is an example of Burke's careful phrasing. Danger itself is not worthy of love, for that is mere recklessness, which is to say acting without reckoning. Only honorable danger is worthy of the true knight (or patriot). But even that is not enough. It must be honorable danger "in a generous cause."
So nicely put! There are many causes, but the worthy knight must support only the generous cause, the cause that benefits others rather than himself.
While I might not care for Burke's politics, and I certainly don't agree with his history, I have to admire his abilities as an essayist. I don't think one could craft a more compact statement of an ideal knight than one who is brave and bold, who loves honorable danger in a generous cause.
- Thread starter
- #25
And another from the same essay by Burke.
"People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors."
George Santayana is the alleged author of "those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it" or some such variant, but I like Burke's better. The formal study of history is rather a cultural luxury; Burke's statement applies up and down the social scale, and makes no (unwarranted) assertions about learning.
"People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors."
George Santayana is the alleged author of "those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it" or some such variant, but I like Burke's better. The formal study of history is rather a cultural luxury; Burke's statement applies up and down the social scale, and makes no (unwarranted) assertions about learning.
- Thread starter
- #26
A final post here, this one intended specifically for writers. It's a tiny anecdote found in Andrew Roberts' massive biography of Napoleon.
When Nappy decided to snatch Portugal and Spain for France (thereby positioning himself to attack England), he introduced the usual Revolution-era reforms into the Spanish states. Aragon was among those that resisted violently. Specifically, Saragossa. The resistance was led by a minor noble named Palafox (look up the First Siege of Saragossa, 1808). He fought the advancing French forces, but they were far more numerous and he managed to do little more than delay them. When he finally retreated behind the walls, he could count only about three hundred veteran soldiers, a couple thousand volunteers, and the citizenry (about 50,000).
There followed a brutal siege. At one point, after a couple months of siege forays and bombardments, the French commander sent word to Palafox demanding full capitulation. Palafox's reply was three words long:
Guerra al cuchillo
"War by knife"
History has a number of dramatic siege moments. I'm happy to add this one to the list. It's absolutely one I intend to steal, should the opportunity arise.
When Nappy decided to snatch Portugal and Spain for France (thereby positioning himself to attack England), he introduced the usual Revolution-era reforms into the Spanish states. Aragon was among those that resisted violently. Specifically, Saragossa. The resistance was led by a minor noble named Palafox (look up the First Siege of Saragossa, 1808). He fought the advancing French forces, but they were far more numerous and he managed to do little more than delay them. When he finally retreated behind the walls, he could count only about three hundred veteran soldiers, a couple thousand volunteers, and the citizenry (about 50,000).
There followed a brutal siege. At one point, after a couple months of siege forays and bombardments, the French commander sent word to Palafox demanding full capitulation. Palafox's reply was three words long:
Guerra al cuchillo
"War by knife"
History has a number of dramatic siege moments. I'm happy to add this one to the list. It's absolutely one I intend to steal, should the opportunity arise.
Jackarandajam
Inkling
Just finished No Country For Old Men and All The Pretty Horses, both by Cormac Mccarthy. I've read a few of his other works, and I have to say Horses is probably the most approachable, and the one I would recommend to anyone interested.
Read back to back, the excessive nihilism is exhausting.
From a writerly perspective his prose is certainly worth a study, his long sentences, and how lightly he paints characters that still feel very realized. He's very minimalistic and concise, but still writes beautifully, and some of his descriptions are the best I've ever read.
He holds onto his theme like a true master... unfortunately, all of his books have the same theme: life sucks, the incredibly tough make it but don't enjoy it, morality is a cheap facade worn by the stubbornly ignorant and probably doomed, and evil is everywhere, all the time, in every form, and can't reasonably be differentiated from good.
Hopelessness, in a word.
I recommend one of his books a year, no more, read from a writers perspective.
Read back to back, the excessive nihilism is exhausting.
From a writerly perspective his prose is certainly worth a study, his long sentences, and how lightly he paints characters that still feel very realized. He's very minimalistic and concise, but still writes beautifully, and some of his descriptions are the best I've ever read.
He holds onto his theme like a true master... unfortunately, all of his books have the same theme: life sucks, the incredibly tough make it but don't enjoy it, morality is a cheap facade worn by the stubbornly ignorant and probably doomed, and evil is everywhere, all the time, in every form, and can't reasonably be differentiated from good.
Hopelessness, in a word.
I recommend one of his books a year, no more, read from a writers perspective.
Similar threads
