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This question originally popped into my head as "What would Bean say if he read Ender's Game?" Thinking about all of what went on behind the scenes that Bean both guessed and didn't guess, and given the personal torment that Ender both suffered and inflicted upon Bean for a short period of time.
Sure, Bean ended up as one of Ender's disciples, but what would he have thought, had he been able to actually read the book? Especially if he had read it before he came to an understanding with Ender. What would Ender have thought? I suppose it depends on which Ender. If we're talking about Ender before or after Battle School, or even talking about Andrew Wiggin on Lusitania.
Also keep in mind I've been away for something like 22 hours, and I'm not entirely thinking straight, but I admit to being curious as to what the Hatrack faithful think would have been the thoughts of Ender and Bean, and from what age?
Would it be like reading his own Speaking?
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Yes that's what I always thought, Ender would look at EG as the speaking for his death...when he dies. It definately does everything a real speaking would. It shows someone who would appear to be a monster, and makes you understand him. I think he would like to read it...
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Alfred Nobel (of the nobel prize) once had the opportunity to read his own obituary, when a paper mistakenly printed it in place of an obit for his brother.
The paper blasted Nobel for being responsible for the deaths of countless soldiers, and the destruction of thousands of homes. He was after all, the inventor of dynamite, and the newspaper called him "the merchant of Death." He saw his invention as a breakthrough in mining and tunnel construction.
As a result he left his estate to establish the Nobel Prize- now the most prestigious award in the world.
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I always took it that the books were part of the history that they wrote… sort of. If that makes any sense. Basically that they would have read them afterwards.
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Um ... the book CAN'T get it wrong, because Ender, if he existed, would be the Ender the book describes, or no Ender at all. That's the greatest strength of fiction. We can't get the characters wrong. They do what we say they do, and for the reasons we say they do them!
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So Ender would PROBABLY say, I thought those b******s removed the d*** monitor when I was five! And since when did the monitors read my THOUGHTS?
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quote:Originally posted by Orson Scott Card: Um ... the book CAN'T get it wrong, because Ender, if he existed, would be the Ender the book describes, or no Ender at all. That's the greatest strength of fiction. We can't get the characters wrong. They do what we say they do, and for the reasons we say they do them!
What about Holden Caulfield? I mean all the characters in that book are seen through his sad overtaxed vision of the world, so what does that tell us about how right they were? Is the only important characterization the one that Salinger is making of Holden? So every character he remembers in his madman memoires are only mirrors of his own twisted wordview??
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But Ender is the POV character. We are seeing the world through his eyes. So Orincoro's point would be true about the what does bean think of the description given in ender's game, but not ender.
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quote:Originally posted by scholar: But Ender is the POV character. We are seeing the world through his eyes. So Orincoro's point would be true about the what does bean think of the description given in ender's game, but not ender.
Holden is the POV character in CITR, he tells the story in his own words, first person. I wonder though, who is characterising whom... Caulfield the characters or Salinger, Calfield.
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But, considering this book is told in third person, all events/thoughts/dialogues mentioned in the book would be undeniable correct. Ender would most definatly agreee with what is mentioned in it.(i agree, i always thought that that it was his speaking) Hell im thinking that he'd be rather proud of himself,he has reasons too, he saved the world Damnit!!!
Posts: 59 | Registered: May 2006
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If Holden were to read CITR, he should recognize every word as his own. However, since he is an unreliable narrator, the reader should recognize that he is being dishonest with himself and the reader. That is the skill of writing in first person. Holden's reaction to the story would be kinda like a reaction to reading your own diary. So, it is entirely possible and likely that ender might read EG and go, wow, I had Bean all wrong. But, he would not be able to deny that that was how he viewed him at the time. And of course, Ender could reply to the portions that were not from his POV.
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I think Ender would be freaked out if he read the book when he was 4, because I'm not sure how much access to it he would have in Battle School.
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I don't see any other books titles in this thread that CITR could be an abbreviation for. Please define. . . .
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Catcher in the Rye. The main character is Holden Caulfield, who has been mentioned a couple of times.
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As long as Ender didn't listen to the short story on tape. "Does my voice really sound like that?"
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What would Ender say to the background with Major Anderson and Graff? Would he be angry with them for their rather pinpoint manipulation of his personality and skills? Would the older Andrew be upset? Or would both be understanding and accepting of their actions?
What would Ender say if he read about Peter and Valentine? Surely Andrew later in life knew the full story. He talked to the aged Hegemon on his deathbed, and he talked at length with Val during their journey, but what would he have thought reading the non-Hegemon version of Peter's rise to power, and the role that Val played in it, especially given his past with the two of them?
What would Bean say in general about Ender's story? The Bean of the Shadow series always struck me (as most of his jeesh did) as rather worshipful of Ender. Not in the religious sense I don't think, but in general they revered him as a larger than life person. What would Bean's reaction be to reading Ender's life in a more gruesome, visceral sort of way? Would it jar him to see how utterly different they are, and yet in other ways so very much the same?
I think with Ender it matters much more when in his life he'd read it. Andrew and Ender are two different people (in a sense), and while they both lived the life described in the book, I think they'd have different views on it, especially if Ender as a child were to read Speaker and so on. Just curious as to what the rest of you might think, I might answer myself after having some more time to consider it.
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