Gilbert’s Comments (group member since Mar 04, 2018)

Gilbert’s comments from the Written Gems group.

William wrote: "Precisely! You put it very well, but I would think that really needs MORE explanation, and we get hardly any. There are references to sleep, eating, etc. here- not many, but it almost makes ERB loo..."
Yes, I think that the problem starts with no way to measure time and then ERB started to think of fantastic possibilities that gravitate (at least for me) toward a more personal time reference.

Chris wrote: "In the original novels the inability to perceive the passage of time is due to there being no way to measure the passage of time . . . there are no moving planetary bodies, no night/day sequence th..."
I think the explanation is a lot easier than we want to admit. ERB forgot what he had previously written. It's really easy to do even with a computer to help you search previous works for your critical data, and even if you keep a master guide book to help you keep track of things. It's fun to try and retrofit it all together, but I think the explanation is more mundane.

By the way, that was a masterful short essay on the subject!

William wrote: "But I do haff anudder qvestunn, hold on... ::shakes off horrible accent ::

What is up with ERB and his concept of TIME in this world? As far as I could tell, because there's a "sun" that's up all ..."
Time really is zany in this novel. I got the impression that it wasn't just difficulty in tracking time. It feels as if ERB is telling us time is not a constant but it dependent on who is experiencing it.

Chris wrote: "William wrote: "Fabulous Chris! I never thought you'd use the speed of your reading to measure the speed of the prospector. Good thing I didn't do the work, or they'd surely have died of asphyxiati..."

I can picture you two on the panel at a convention arguing over this topic. Will can adopt one of the European accents to sound even more impressive. (He's the narrator, he does all the accents.)

William wrote: "Spot-on about the romance angle, Chris, that's absolutely identical. This whole I-had-no-idea-you'd-be-offended thing is an incel's dream! I actually strain to believe the female characters a bit, ..."
Frankly, Chris found more similarities than I did, but Will's differences are very stark as well. I think a lot is that he's basically writing planetary romances.

I didn't like Dian, but I have to admit that Dejah Thoris is one of the great heroines of sf/fantasy literature. She's a surprisingly strong female character for the time it was written with an uncompromisingly solid code of honor.

Alright, here's another thought to ponder. Now that I've read the book, I couldn't help but notice a great number of similarities between this novel and A Princess of Mars (which this reader's group has also read and commented on). What do you all think? Did ERB basically move Barsoom to inside the planet and make a few cosmetic changes? Or are the similarities simply a factor of both of them being planetary romances?

Chris wrote: "William wrote: "With REH, pure action and a little societal comparison (the indigenous races probably would have provided all the heroes!)... HPL, by contrast, going underground was just another wa..."
That's hillarious!

Chris wrote: "Gilbert M. Stack

Gil, you mentioned the influence of At the Earth's Core.

Indeed it was influential, as were many others of ERB's works.

It seemed to me that I recalled readi..."
It is fascinating the way in which these classic authors influenced each other. It's really nice to think of them reading each other's works and placing tributes in their own writing.

Chris wrote: "William wrote: "Can't wait! Fabulous, fun adventure story, and also revealing the cultural heritage of the period. White Man's Burden, anyone?!?"

Ironically, ERB wrote a poem titled Black Man's Bu..."
I didn't know that ERB wrote anything like this. It's both powerful and disturbing.

We are happy to announce that we will be discussing the Edgar Rice Burroughs classic, At the Earth’s Core, starting August 12. This is a short book by ERB, but it has been highly influential. While ERB did not invent the idea of the hollow earth, he certainly did a lot to popularize it in this planetary romance. Even King Kong visits the world inside our own in his latest cinema adventures.

Chris wrote: "Good one!"
It's a good short story! The ending really surprised me.

Here's another great opening line, this time from D.M. Guay's new short story, Bake Off. "Ida Mae Turnbull knew the one hundred and twenty-third annual Happy Hollow Charity Ladies' Auxiliary Bake-Off Fundraiser was off to an unusual start the second she bit into Norma Burton's cherry pie, and a cherry bit her back."

Guay's book, The Graveyard Shift is the opening review of Occultober 2022. You can join the discussion on my Facebook site at: https://www.facebook.com/GilbertStack...

Charles wrote: "It’s an uncommonly known fact that a strong pot of tea will obscure a werewolf’s stench. Ghosts of Tsavo by Vered Ehsani"

Charles, I finally got around to reading this novel. The rest of the book is as good as the opening lines. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Chris wrote: "Chris wrote: ""There was thunder in the air on the night I went to the deserted mansion atop Tempest Mountain to find the lurking fear."

-H. P. Lovecraft, The Lurking Fear, 1922"

Hmm, this was in..."
That cover will give you nightmares.

Chris wrote: ""There was thunder in the air on the night I went to the deserted mansion atop Tempest Mountain to find the lurking fear."

-H. P. Lovecraft, The Lurking Fear, 1922

"
Another great one. I'm not sure if I've read The Lurking Fear.

That is funny! But I also find that the first reading influences all the others, so I guess it makes sense.

It's good to hear from you, Alex, and quite flattering that our discussion has interested you in this great series. And never worry about being "late to the game". One of the great things about these Goodreads discussion groups is that you can read a book ten years after it was discussed and still comment on it. We'll always jump in to talk about great novels. What's your impression of Corwin so far?

Walking the Pattern is certainly the turning point of the story. It's almost two different novels before and after the Pattern. I've described the whole book as a "Who Am I?" tale but really, Nine Princes become more of a classic adventure story after Corwin walks the Pattern. Of greater interest, I think, is that his personality really doesn't change after he walks it and gets his memories back. We learn in book 3 that in many ways he is unrecognizable by his siblings in terms of his new value system. I'm tempted to say this is great writing--centuries on earth without memory have taught Corwin to be a new and better man--but it's also possible that Zelazny blew it here. I guess to some extent it depends on whether or not you think people are the sum of their experiences.

Memory--or the lack there of--is the overriding mechanism for understanding what is happening for the first half of the novel and I think it's most important to introducing the concept of shadow. At the same time, I read this book my freshman year in high school (something like forty years ago) so it's also difficult to remember what it was like to discover shadow through Nine Princes in Amber that first time.

The things I remember most looking back is how Corwin's extended period of amnesia helped him evolve into a better person. He doesn't need or desire to senselessly kill people over petty slights. And he also (later) encourages Random to act with basic decency toward a woman.

I think that anyone evaluating Corwin would come to the opinion that he benefited from forgetting who he was.

Corwin might be the first amnesiac character I ever encountered in fiction. (I first read this book in the ninth grade.) I think the thing that caught me right from the start was his touch of paranoia.

"Yes, now, though I was feeling halfway decent. They'd have to stop.

Wouldn't they?

The thought came to assail me: Maybe not."

Right from the beginning we know that Corwin lives in a world very different from ours. It's hard not to be a bigger underdog than a guy with his legs in cast waking up in a hospital bed and not knowing who he is. But Corwin never wastes a moment on despair, he just starts taking control of his life again. (Admittedly, later in the book he spends a few years feeling self pity, but not now.) It's hard not to cheer for a guy like that.

And it gives Zelazny many chapters to start to introduce us to his fascinating concept of the true reality.