posted
(I posted this on the other side but I forgot no one reads the other side unless OSC is posting.)
I've been contemplating something OSC said on another thread, about how people go to his signings expecting him to "be" the characters he writes about. The reason why I've been musing is because the thought never crossed my mind, to expect him to be the characters he writes. I can see how that would be kind of wierd and stressful at booksignings.
Then I started wondering about how I did see him. If the way I saw him was really any different. OSC has talked about how a book is in the eye of the beholder. That how you read a book and what it means to you could be entirely different than what it means to someone else, because you bring a different set of life experiences to the book than anyone else.
If anything, I wonder how OSC grasped truth and Truth so well as to write about me. You see, when I read his books I *am* Ender, or Bean, or Alvin. I most identify with Ender though. So when I meet OSC, the person I guess I most want him to be, is the kind of character of the Professor, in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. The kind who sees what is going on around him and makes semi-cryptic statements that lead one closer to truth/Truth. I don't expect him to be Ender or Alvin because they have become part of me.
I realize that OSC is still human and imperfect. I guess that is probably the root of what we all want. When someone has such deep insight into Human Nature you want them to be perfect and never let you down. But he's human like the rest of us. Plato was too, we just forget he was, because history has separated and given us a nice foggy gaze. And part of what makes OSC's writing so powerful is that he does give his characters flaws and keeps them human. I think we all need to make the same allowance when it comes to him.
Yes, I disagree strongly with some of his opinion columns. Some people take them even more personally than I do, because sometimes they apply more directly. But, as Icarus has said before, they always make me think. And when I disagree I'm forced to be more cogent of my logic than I was before. I think that part of the reason some of us *don't* like the opinion columns (aside from the content at times) is because they remind us that OSC is human.
And he's allowed to be. But here on Hatrack I think we often forget.
posted
That's not an uncommon phenomenon - we expect authors to write about themselves in some guise or another. Which is not always the case except, perhaps, with R.A. Salvatore ( ).
A similar phenomenon is confusing actors with the characters they portray, particularly popular or long-running characters.
posted
Although it isn't always possible, I try to separate the personality of the artist (in this case, author) from the work. I really believe that this is a great test of a work, to judge it on it's own merits. What is important for me is the execution of the ideas, does it work? Was my supension of disbelief interrupted? Was I moved? Did the author convey emotion effectively to me?
All this lets the work rise above its creator.
I believe that OSC does this quite well.
Posts: 1843 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote: But, as Icarus has said before, they always make me think.
I can't really comment on the bit about expecting OSC to be something he's not, since I've never had him on a pedestal to begin with, but as far as your quoted comment, I would say about five percent of the time his World Watch stuff makes me think. His conclusions and opinions are pretty predictable and his logic is often predicated on one side being 'elitest' and/or zealots or something such that it's pretty obvious whenever you read him that you're dealing with someone who isn't in listening, but rather in speaking.
This isn't always true, and there are times when I enjoy reading his WW columns.
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Sure, he's just a man. It's important that we realize that. However, he's famous for a reason. His work is far above the caliber of anything that any of us produce, and his international acclaim is not unfounded.
When we start separating the man from the author, we tend to forget that the man is the author, and does deserve our respect for the body of work he produces.
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posted
Having some local fame myself, when I was the "child genuis" at the community college I'm mulling it over.
I think it is dehumanizing. However that doesn't mean it isn't useful. And the person who is famous isn't necessarily famous because they wanted to be. In OSC's case, being an author does not necessarily equate to being "famous". I'm sure when he wrote Ender's Game he was more interested in feeding his children, than becoming famous. However an author or an artist is deliberately putting themselves and their ideas out there for others to view.
My own bit of fame was far more accidental like Ender himself. A coincidence that I was born into the family I was, with the brain I was. I wanted to learn, and if going to a community college at 13 was the way to do it, then so be it. The reason why I didn't blend in, was because I was so baby faced. Fortunately I was tall even then, so it wasn't as horrid as it could have been.
I definitely had to deal with it more directly when I became a tutor. Because then I was putting myself out there saying that I had something to say. When people would come in and ask for me as a tutor, they had generally been told two things 1) I was a child genius(lol, speling?) and 2) I was a good tutor. So they did at least come to me with an open mind. And most of them, I hope, came away thinking that even if my brain could calculate figures faster than anyone else, I was still human, willing to make them laugh and help them in their struggle to learn. That I had compassion and cared about them. But I had let them see all my quirks and foibles in order to re-humanize myself.
And even then there was still often awe. I would get stopped in the grocery store by people wanting their friends to meet me. The thing is though, you get used to it. You enjoy being a celebrity, and then people to make excuses for your quirks and foibles. Which shouldn't necessarily be excused either. Which then becomes dehumanizing.
I think it comes down to, on an individual level you do pick and choose who you are human to and who you aren't. Which sucks, because it would be nice to be human to everyone. I don't mean being evil when I say unhuman here, I just mean that you can't waste your personal emotional capital on people that don't mean something to you already. Which then makes you insular. *shrug*
quote: I think that part of the reason some of us *don't* like the opinion columns (aside from the content at times) is because they remind us that OSC is human.
I'll be honest. The reason I don't like his columns is that he quite often indirectly insults me and people I care about in a manner that suggests that he does not know us -- or people like us -- well enough to care about our opinions or feelings. While this may in fact be true, it's a little rough.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Sometimes, I wonder if what amazes us about his writing is not the "insight" but his ability to be the eyes that we can "observe" with . . . it just seems that he is one of the best "observers and reporters" of human nature that I have ever read - indeed, one of the issues with a lot of the Shadow books that folks seemed to bring up was that he went from "observing and reporting" to "commenting/critiquing" . . . I dunno - just playing with some random thoughts and seeing how they fit together.
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posted
I was just glad to meet him and his wife at last, and thought they were very nice and fairly normal, as far as I could tell. I say fairly normal beacue I don't think most people would handle ame as well as they seem to.
It has to be tough in some ways, I guess. I wouldn't know, personally.
I DO know that all the professional people there seemed very impressed with OSC, both in the number of fans he draws to these sort of cons and in the way he handles himself. I had a number of book sellers mention that OSC went through asn signed books for them to sell, and that out of all the authors they have delt with recently, he is the only one to do so on a regular basis. A lot of times the sellers don't get a chance to see the authors, because their booths have to be open during the signings, so they all appreciated his efforts.
The two (three people, really) people I was impressed with were OSC and kacard, and Juliet McKenna....they were nice, friendly, and seemed to really care about their fans.
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