Any book that requires you to "know the context" has failed in at least one regard
Well, yes ... but when the relevant context is such a massive part of contemporary culture as fantasy fiction, and when the reviewer is writing in a venue from which you expect informed commentary, it's hard not to be a little nonplussed. We're not talking 'immersion in the genre' here, we're talking about having read a couple of fantasy novels in the last ten years. It's great that the book got a good review, but it's Knight's complete lack of self-awareness that I find amusing; he seems completely oblivious to the idea that there might be other ways to understand the book than his own.
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Date: 2005-08-13 02:34 pm (UTC)Well, yes ... but when the relevant context is such a massive part of contemporary culture as fantasy fiction, and when the reviewer is writing in a venue from which you expect informed commentary, it's hard not to be a little nonplussed. We're not talking 'immersion in the genre' here, we're talking about having read a couple of fantasy novels in the last ten years. It's great that the book got a good review, but it's Knight's complete lack of self-awareness that I find amusing; he seems completely oblivious to the idea that there might be other ways to understand the book than his own.