Beth Quitsland wrote:
But has anyone written about
> the obvious similarities between Gandalf and Obi Wan Kenobe?
They must have, surely. And in the films they were both played by British
theatrical knights, too - what does that say about Hollywood iconography?
Having seen the most recent *Star Wars* and *The Two Towers* films pretty
close together I was even more struck by the characters played by
Christopher Lee - Saruman and whatever-his-name-was in *SW*: both trusted
and powerful Jedis/Wizards who had fallen and turned to the Dark Side/Lord.
Curious typecasting, but it brought out the partial isomorphism of the two
plots very neatly.
And Philip K. Dick, I would argue, is a
> science fiction/fantasy writer worth reading with close, appreciative
> attention, as are Ursula LeGuin and Doris Lessing
I believe there are many fantasy/SF writers worthy of such study (including
the mother of a distinguished member of this list), but given that the
fantasy/SF label effectively means automatic disqualification from the
literary canon they tend not to receive it outside 'genre' courses, be they
in fantasy, science fiction or children's literature. Margaret Atwood might
qualify as another partial exception, although I understand that even she
recently repudiated the SF label in the case of her otherwise-clearly-SF
*Oryx and Crake*, perhaps fearing that it would be taken less seriously. As
one who would like to think that Spenser's work was part of a living and
respected literary heritage I find all this rather sad.
> For the record, I would also poke fun at the launch of *Fletcher Studies*
> if its promotional materials claimed that either Giles or Phineas was a
> "marvellous" poet.
Would cousin John count?
Charlie
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