Lee Hunts

There has been a long-running debate among writers between how to best write prose. Simplifying a little, it can be broadly characterized as a division between those who argue for minimalism and those who argue for more ornate prose. Both sides have been derided—the former as "beige" or "dry," the latter as "purple." But I would say that minimalism is probably the most common form of writing, if only because it is easier. As a result of this, the debate almost always takes the form of someone like myself criticizing Sanderson for his prose, and a fan of his replying that his prose doesn't need to be ornate or poetic to be good. In other words, I usually find myself on the snotty "ornate" side of the debate. But I recently came across a few videos by Joseph V. Logsdon that seem to embody the literal caricature presented by the simple prose side, and I find myself on the other side of the argument. Now I want "minimalist" prose. Obvio...

I just finished reading Submission, by Michel Houellebecq. This book is French, though I read the translated version, for obvious reasons. The book is rather infamous for its content, which is naturally why I chose to read it. And perhaps, how you describe it says a bit about your attitude regarding it. I wanted to make a joke about how this was basically The Handmaid's Tale in France, except you replace the Far Right with radical Islam (assuming there is a difference?); as such, many on the left don't like it. But while it does depict a near future, where a Muslim Brotherhood group takes over France, in coalition with the socialists, all because they could not bear to let the Far Right party win, the focus of the story is actually elsewhere. What is this book about? Well, as it is often stated in right wing circles, empires are not defeated, they commit suicide. This book is about France's suicide. It is about the West's suicide. The reader is placed within the head of...

I just finished reading Ten Little Ni—Ten Little India—And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. This will be a quickie. I normally prefer the deep, immersive novels—especially the character studies. What I want is something to make me think, as well. Novels like these are not usually up my alley, not because they don't make you think, but because they make you think in different ways. Christie is actually a master of making you ask questions and rethink things. Even if you think you've spoiled yourself, you might end up convincing yourself otherwise later in the story. While books like these are thin in the character department, and I especially felt that way in the beginning, they are a masterclass in taking advantage of what you could call underdetermined theories. There are multiple theories that fit the available evidence, and notably, these theories are incommensurate: they cannot all be true at the same time. You need to keep reading to find more evidence to learn whi...

It was inevitable that I would write something on the topic of politics and fiction. I hate the way it is talked about, because people are often so shallow in how they approach the topic. We are regularly treated to gems like, "Art shouldn't be political," and equally shiny gems like "All art is political." Invariably, I find the discussions to be particularly annoying and, at the heart of all of them, there is a rather obvious problem. They do not define what it means to be political. How else do you think people could be making such ridiculously contrasting statements? They have different understandings of what it means to be political. In this post, I want to unpack multiple senses of what it means for art to be political, and draw out the implications. What is Politics? I subscribe to a particular form of power politics, so my understanding of politics places power at the center. Politics is the set of activities individuals, groups, and institutions engage ...

I just finished reading the final book in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever. The Power That Preserves is probably the darkest story in the series, with the first one starting out at the Land's default state. In the second, the reader begins to see the slow decline, with the climax of that coming into full view in this entry. Covenant comes to the Land for his third time, for one last push to stop Lord Foul, something that was hinted at in the very beginning of the first entry. Forty-seven years have passed from that moment, and now everything has come together. No Spoilers Characters As is obvious from the first two entries of this series, as well as from Donaldson's writings on what fantasy is, characters and themes are probably the most important aspects of the story. Worldbuilding, too, but I think that is better covered in the part on themes. This is where Donaldson delivers on his story in spades. Thomas Covenant I speculated that Covenant was not the actua...

For this post, I want to talk about some of the habits and tricks that I use to read books quicker and more effectively. I am a terribly slow reader. I have always had trouble reading books and especially staying committed to them when they are non-fiction. I haven't actually fixed the problem of reading slowly, as speed reading just damages your ability to comprehend what you are reading. What I have done is tweaked my own habits such that I actually get things done. These are not universal tips, but rather habits that I have adopted because they work for me. Will they work for you? Well, I don't care. You're a faceless nobody. I was motivated to write this after watching Better Than Food's video about the topic. I have additional commentary, namely because he focuses on fiction, and I often read non-fiction, too. I will link his video in the description; I suggest checking him out. Finally, I want to quickly explain some terms that I will be using throughout. When I w...