posted
So, deciding that I enjoy Card's Audiobooks far more then most (the readings are noticably better and the vocal work is very, very good), I picked up "Hart's Hope" which came onto Audible recently.
What I'm finding is how many similarities you can see in the general ideas of "Hart's Hope" to the Bean series. I'm not saying the two are incredibly linked, just that there are some of the general ideas that Card was getting at in this book (the overly bright child, etc.) as well as the distance between him and his people.
Anyway, there are some refinements that Card has made in his writing style since then, but the general posture of the characters and the use of dialogue is still very sharp.
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I suppose they're both about high-level politics, but one is in a magic-dominated monarchy, the other in a worldwide future war setting ... I suppose I thought the difference in scale and technology made it quite different, but maybe not. I'll have to think about this ...
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Orem. I thought about this as he so quickly advanced through the teachings of the priesthood while in Banningside, at the mere age of 12, he was writing the prophecies of "God" and finding new meaning as compared to all of his peers. He had become a full brother so early, they continued to note.
I'm not saying this is a direct; they are wildly different books, I'm just saying it's interesting that in these works, it's also a child who works as a quick learner, with unique insights into the world who changes the world.
(I hope this makes sense)
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posted
Hart's Hope is my favorite of your books, Mr. Card. I found the prose gripping, the situtations fanciful but still applicable in our world, and perfect regarding the cost of magic.
There are a handful of decisions that stick with me today. The complex heroism of Rainer Carpenter. Carpenter did have a family to support so when he took responsibility for Orem's weapon, there was an unresolved cost. The decision of Orem not to become a servant, and then the snake dancing motiff and psychology goes well in shedding light on why a lot of kids join gangs.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I need to reread that book. Heck, I have no memory of who Rainer Carpenter is! Aaaargh! I'm getting so old ...
I forgot that Orem was quick to get the 'game' of numbers-and-names. I thought of it as a product of the unmagical magic he was born with, but ... I guess you're right. I can't write characters who aren't good at SOMETHING.
Then again, I really believe that in real life, everybody is good at SOMETHING ...
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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I think, what most of your books do have is someone who is good at something, but very often, how children can be the lever for motion in the world.
As I go back and listen through books I haven't read in years (thanks Audible) the mroe I appreciate this thread, and the more it seems to be a strong backdrop for a lot of your writing.
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quote:I have no memory of who Rainer Carpenter is!
You only devoted a few sentences to Rainer Carpenter, and a one major decision, but the execution of the scene and character was so perfect that it left a decent sized imprint in me.
You did something similar with Measure, taking the town's punishment in the ALvin books, but Rainer Carpenter was so much cooler. Hart's Hope is a wonderful book, Mr. Card.
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When I saw OSC at the Philly book signing I mentioned that Hart's Hope was my favorite book of his and he said something along the lines of that being "one of the best works of fiction he's written". I may be misquoting, but it was something like that.
Anyway, while Orem was unusually good at the words and writing I wouldn't call him a "genious" in the same way that Bean was a genious. But even if he was...why does that make it similar to the Bean series as opposed to any other series or book? Why not the Ender series? Or the Alvin Maker series? OSC has a thing for genious(or at least gifted or talented) children.
The Bean series to me was more about political intrigue, and the goings on and interactions of countries and large groups of people. The movements of history on a grand scale and the people involved in making all the little decisions that affect it. Hart's Hope is a completely different kind of book for me. Hart's Hope is much more about the characters for me. And SO much more emotional. And the world that OSC creates in that book is just so wonderful and magical.
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quote:..why does that make it similar to the Bean series as opposed to any other series or book?
Because Orem was used as a lever for change in the world, even though his situation, by birth and right was largely hopeless, ie, he was virtually doomed to die (admittedly, we don't know that's how it ended, but throughout the story Orem believed death was around the corner for him..) And it was also a tale of Orem as a survivor; working his way out of gangs in the street with the help of Flea.
I just found a lot of those things a somewhat mirror of Bean; sure Inwit was not Rotterdam, but the tell of the street gangs and friends made there, the fight for survival by a bright child who finds himself doomed to die.. yeah, I found some parallels there that I thought were interesting.
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posted
I find it interesting just how many of Card's works feature 'gifted' or 'exceptional' children in the primary roles. The Alvin Makes began with a child who had a rare and exceptional 'knack'. Of course the Bean and Ender books (Ender's Game more than the Speaker trilogy). I'm currently reading Songmaster for the first time, and the protagonist is a young boy who has the ability to read people and manipulate them using his song. Even some of his short fiction -- "Dogwalker" comes to mind. (I also have a mental picture of the main character of Treason being a child, or at least young, but it's been long enough since I read it that I can't be sure. That image may have been the image I created the first time I read it at about 13, and it may have been self-reflective.)
And part of what makes these children remarkable to me is that they all seem to have a pretty strong sense of their talents, they know what they can and can't do. They know how powerful they are in their respective arenas. Which would explain why they all end up in positions to influence their respective universes.
I guess if there were nothing remarkable about the characters or their experiences then there would be no story.
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