Just found out that there's a new Q&A with the always entertaining Joe Abercrombie, author of Best Served Cold (Canada, USA, Europe), on the David Gemmell Legend Award website.Here's a teaser:
First and foremost I’d like them to be entertained – excited by the action, tickled pink by the humour, intrigued by some unusual characters, surprised by the twists in the tale. But above all I’d like them to get an insatiable desire to read, or at least to buy, more of my books...
Check out the interview here.
13 commentaires:
i read the first law trilogy, and won't return to that series' sequels.
the first law trilogy was great, but too depressing.
that evil won to decidedly, that everyone capitulated or resigned themselves to it.
what's the point in the sequels ?
...to see if evil continues winning, of course. In as snarky and bloody a manner possible.
Thats the trouble with Abercrombie. He just wants to entertain. Other authors make Art. Entertainment is too easy.
art ?
i don't remember art in any book anywhere.
to me books are about entertainment of a different kind.
the day i start consider books as art, i would start reading tea leaves.
but seriously, abercombie's first law trilogy was everything i like a fantasy series, except the underline of evil.
machinery, I feel sorry for you. There is art in a great many books.
Abercrombie unfortunately doesn't get this or can't execute on it. His books are highly entertaining but also highly overrated. I always feel like they're missing something and I don't particularly care what happens to any of the characters.
Can't understand some of these negative comments about Abercrombie's style. Yeah it's evil, but each of the characters have redeeming features that are ultimately swamped by the demands of a real world context.
If you can't grasp that go back and read Peter Pan or Dungeons & Dragons for chrissake!
As for art versus entertainment, I walk into a bookstore for entertainment, if that entertainment can be viewed as artistic hooray!
Actually Bob, one of the things that I love about Abercrombie is that he often gives his characters no redeeming qualities or even takes them away. Yeah, there are some 'good' people, but his shady and evil characters are just so much fun. The fact that there isn't a 'happy ending' is a major draw for me.
...wow, I'm a sick bastard.
Hey Casey,
I can accept that but for mine some of the evil characters are truly likeable - Sand dan Glokta is hilarious for example.
The only real bastard is Bayaz, but as a wizard he's pretty refreshing.
I mean you've gotta be realistic about these things ;)
"He just want to entertain. Other authors make art."
Lol! I love pomposity. Makes me giggle.
I actually agree that Abercrombie's books are the equivalent of a good "Popcorn movie" but the good thing about books that are written to entertain is that they can sometimes be, well, entertaining. There are much worse things for a book to be called.
what is this about art vs. entertainment ?
can't it be both ?
if i am entertained by a book, then it's not art ?
in that case, comics like spiderman or "what if" of marvel is high art, cause i receive no entertainment value from it, quite the opposite.
I have no idea where this idea that something that is accessible and entertaining can't simultaneously be considered 'art' came from. I think that art that purposely sets out to be art fails miserably at that goal. Art for its own sake is nothing more than pretension masquerading as a higher form of expression. Same goes when this is applied to literature...but at the same time, Abercrombie is definitely the literary equivalent of a popcorn movie. There is nothing wrong with that and people need to stop prefacing their enjoyment of his work with, "I know it's just entertainment, but..." We know, you're allowed to like stuff just because you like it. No qualifier needed.
[/rant] Sorry...
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