posted
I haven't read the last three Ender books for some time, but I remember that after his arrival on Lusitania, he was able to begin and maintain many changes on the planet. It's where he placed the new Hive Queen, he was able to help remake the relationship between the Humans and the Piggies, and he had something to do with the discovery of instantaneous travel.
He was hardly a side character. I think it's just hard for some of us to get used to Ender's being an adult. It was for me.
As for the "missing years," by the end of Ender's Game, he IS the man he would become. He is The Speaker for the Dead and The Xenocide, all at the age of 15. The rest of it is just events. Significant events, certainly, but nothing that would fundamentally change his nature between the end of EG and Speaker.
Posts: 684 | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
Perhaps, I just felt like Ender was very very far away in all three books, especially Xenocide. Speaker for the Dead force me at least, to focus more on other peoples interactions and issues with the Piggies and as such I didn't have time to ask "well, what does Ender Wiggin think?"
I didn't see him as the soft, yet powerful young adult he should have been. If he was the person we left him as in Ender's Game he would have been a rather confused young man, turning into an even more confused adult. None-the-less, one willing to make decisions and get things done, but still confused. Ender was always PUSHED by something, he never PUSHED first.
I know that the whole point of Ender's Game was that it was a game, and the realization of non-reality can set you free to do things you'd never do in real life, but does that mean that, from then on, Ender treated his entire life like a game? He let himself become shut off from those of us who wanted to know how he felt and what his thought proccess was?
I felt kind of like the monitor observers. After Ender's Game, I could still see what was going on with him, but I couldn't feel what he felt or think what he thought.
Maybe THAT is the peeve I am getting at.
Posts: 44 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
I dunno. I thought the following three books were exceptional examples of deep POV penetration. The penetration is so deep, Card's use of first person in the narrative is hardly even noticed by the reader. (By this reader anyway.)
It's true that there are more viewpoints in the last three books than there are in Ender's game. But that's because the world's gotten bigger.
You might want to see if you can find Card's short story, 'Investment Councilor.' That deals with an Ender who's coming into adulthood.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I disagree with Card that Carly Smithson on American Idol is a poor singer and a calculating beeyotch. He seems to dislike her so hard it was like she took his lunch money and pantsed him in front of the girl he likes.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Somehow, I transposed Kristi Lee Cook over Carly Smithson in that article, and it worked completely for me.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I will deffinetely read that short story, AND I just found some info on this ender in exile book, and I'm looking forward to it!
Scifibum- I wish I watched TV, so I could truly understand this whole American Idol is actually still happening thing. I thought it was just a myth, I was sure American Idol had died or somthing. Oh well, we can dream.
quote:Originally posted by Scott R: I dunno. I thought the following three books were exceptional examples of deep POV penetration. The penetration is so deep, Card's use of first person in the narrative is hardly even noticed by the reader. (By this reader anyway.)
It's true that there are more viewpoints in the last three books than there are in Ender's game. But that's because the world's gotten bigger.
You might want to see if you can find Card's short story, 'Investment Councilor.' That deals with an Ender who's coming into adulthood.
What do you mean "an" Ender? Are there more than one?
Posts: 9 | Registered: Apr 2008
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I really disagree with him about Bush. So Much. I don't think he listens to folks he doesn't agree with at all. For example, there really IS a recession. Millions of people are living it. They are struggling to find jobs and can't find anything.
Also, it is annoying for him to stereotype inner city people if that is what he is really doing. And there are various other things I disagree with him about.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Scott R: I dunno. I thought the following three books were exceptional examples of deep POV penetration. The penetration is so deep, Card's use of first person in the narrative is hardly even noticed by the reader. (By this reader anyway.)
It's true that there are more viewpoints in the last three books than there are in Ender's game. But that's because the world's gotten bigger.
You might want to see if you can find Card's short story, 'Investment Councilor.' That deals with an Ender who's coming into adulthood.
What do you mean "an" Ender? Are there more than one?
Figure of speech, yo.
Posts: 368 | Registered: Aug 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Scott R: I dunno. I thought the following three books were exceptional examples of deep POV penetration. The penetration is so deep, Card's use of first person in the narrative is hardly even noticed by the reader. (By this reader anyway.)
It's true that there are more viewpoints in the last three books than there are in Ender's game. But that's because the world's gotten bigger.
You might want to see if you can find Card's short story, 'Investment Councilor.' That deals with an Ender who's coming into adulthood.
What do you mean "an" Ender? Are there more than one?
Figure of speech, yo.
No, not really. Posts: 9 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
Another thing to keep in mind is that Ender is a supplement to the story of Speaker for the Dead rather than the other way around. I believe it was in the foreword of either Ender's Game or maybe Speaker itself that he says that he intended Speaker for the Dead to be his masterpiece and it was when he was trying to find a character to play the role when he happened to look back and see Ender Wiggin sitting there and thought "Sure, why not?"
The way I see it, Ender's Game was merely setting the stage for a bigger story. I think both stories are based around empathy, and relationships in general. Ender's Game showed us how Ender develops and maintains relationships. It showed us why it was necessary; why it was important.
At the end of Ender's Game, Ender's trust is broken. All of his relationships were USED to do something horrible. The person probably most gifted at forming bonds was devastatingly hurt by them. So much so, in fact, that it took him ~21 years of wandering through space before he finally decided to really try to know another human being.
So you see, while it was Ender's natural gift of empathy that brought the story together, it isn't really about HIM. It's about the people AROUND him. The people that were able to bring him out of his shell. The one's who were able to fix the wounds. We already knew about Ender. We needed to know about the place that could tame him; the place that could eventually become his home.
In the case of Children of the Mind, we also need to know about the people that would become his legacy. Namely, Peter, Miro, and Jane, and the people who are important to THEM.
Posts: 636 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Using the article 'an' in the way that I did highlights the original poster's contention of there indeed being multiple Enders. (An adult one and one who is a child)
There you go, sir.
quote:Also, it is annoying for him to stereotype inner city people if that is what he is really doing.
posted
Andrew isn't Ender, at least not in his actions. Ender was trying to get by, Andrew is trying to atone for annihilating a race.
When reading, it felt like Andrew was trying to measure every one of his actions, and all the consequences it would have. Ender would figure out how to win, then do it; all other consequences be damned.
Ender's life was, effectively, simple. Identify allies and enemies, defeat the enemies.
Andrew's simply trying to do good by the world, and eventually, the pequeninos.
Anyway, that's my 0.02c. They're aren't really the same character. They couldn't be; for all his genius, Ender was a child.
Posts: 39 | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
This is a bit of a non-sequitor, but has anyone here read the book, by OSC, "Empire"? It's premise is excellent, that the USA is like Rome in it's republic stage, but it is poorly executed. In the book, Mr Scott Card describes the story repeatedly as impartial, saying that unity is more important than political ideology. That, in concept and theory, I agree with. But in actuality the book has a moderate-strong right spin. No institution that is even vaguely liberal is trustworthy, whether it is CNN, the (unnamed) university, or the city of New York. I do feel that OSC is a good writer, but why would he blatantly revile liberals? (the main character's "liberal" wife is a token character. She acts more like an independent). It ruins the book, especially its intelligent and eye-opening premise, for liberal readers such as myself.
Posts: 5 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
And I agree with Timoty. "Andrew isn't Ender, at least not in his actions. Ender was trying to get by, Andrew is trying to atone for annihilating a race" Exactly. Could it be that people's moral values complicate with age? Is that why Andrew is different from Ender?
Posts: 5 | Registered: Apr 2008
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lol does it suddenly change my argumentation or something? Or am I the first female you've met on the boards? What is the deal here?
Posts: 44 | Registered: Apr 2008
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Its kind of like a woman amongst nerds I believe... Its like, wow! A LADY! HAHA! And no, it doesnt change a thing about what you say, everyone will still disagree with you, regardless of your gender! HAHA! Unless... I dont think there are many whit-male-supremists on this site? Not sure though... Its always a possibility I'm sure... But such a shame. Posts: 93 | Registered: Apr 2008
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*rolls eyes* The site is 60/40, male/female. The split is even more even among the regulars, I'd guess.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Thats good... No nazis here eh? But what is the percent of Mormon/Others here eh? Mr. I know everything...
Posts: 93 | Registered: Apr 2008
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I agree with you, Ish, on the books following EG.
It always seemed to me that, despite all the things he accomplishes in the later books, Ender pretty much spends the rest of his post-EG life running away from the unresolved internal conflicts that are most central to him in Ender's Game. He goes around the Universe solving other people's problems, but never really confronts his own.
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Pretty sure it's closer to 40%, at least according to the results from the age/sex/religion thread.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
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I see... Well, do I boost the numbers? I am a Mormon and I just brought like 6 people into this forum... All mormon. YAYA! I am a regular OSC missionary! Posts: 93 | Registered: Apr 2008
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I think I've said it before, but... The dark side of what I like about Card (the richness of characters and their motivations, including villains) is that it makes it all the more baffling to me when he's willing to assume incredibly shallow motivations to those he disagrees with in his "World Watch" columns, sometimes on a massive scale.
I suspect that if someone wrote a story in one of his classes in which one character was willing to see their homeland destroyed out of nothing more than intellectual smugness, he'd criticize it.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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"Remember that OSC wrote the book on how to make an effective political blog. "
Pfft. Anyone can invent a genius blogger or genius general -- that hardly represents OSC's ability to convincingly blog the same way that it hardly represents his ability to lead an interplanetary war.
Posts: 676 | Registered: Feb 2003
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It sure seems to me that about as many of the new people are Mormons as not, although I don't really pay full attention to that. I think that a lot of people are "stealth" Mormons, too...they may not reveal that they are actually Mormon, for whatever reason.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
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Number one would have to be politics. I find I am almost directly opposite on most issues, even though I relate very strongly to many of his characters and story lines and find them nearly perfectly written to my taste (lol-even Ender's vile wife.)
I have noticed many real life political representations are present in some of my best loved books, though. There is autocracy and theocracy (rarely good things in real life), there are shades of aristocracy and militarism (we the elite and we the military know what is good for people, where they, the poor sots, know not..), and there is secrecy and suppression of information for the good of the people, etc.
I also read in a sort of elevation of irrationality - characters who are resistant to self-reflection (or learning) because of emotional damage seem to be put in an exempt and elevated category; as if one should tolerate hideous behaviors (not the actual person) in honor of the emotional handicap, and make others (support people) responsible for the actions of the "actors-out". It seems that if you have a good excuse and can rationalize your personalization of events and paranoia's, you get to wallow in your pain and throw it on everyone else and be honored for it. Very true to life, but kind of funny how the most balanced characters promote protecting the illness, not the person with the illness.
There also seems to be two themes regarding emotion at play, one for males and one for females. Males seem to come to grips and learn from errors and tragedy, where females more frequently remain victims for life and become resistent to sense. The characters who do not represent affliction seem evenly written (any characteristics can be applied to any gender), just seems to me to be regarding damage.
These are only passive observations, and completely opinions without merit or a fact base. Fiction is art for me, and OSC's is the top of my list for the wonderful conflicts and realisms (as above) he puts in. I fear we should not sip tea together at a political gathering, however.
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