Just Call me Spot...
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 9:05 pm
My name isn't from the series - it's a personal name - my "Indian Name."
I am the mother of 4 wonderful sons, 21, 18, 16, and 13.
I was at the bookstore with my youngest, looking for an interesting book for his most recent report, when he paused and took hold of a book with an interesting title..."The Ruins of Earth."
My heart thrilled when I saw the author's name. Many science fiction/fantasy authors leave me disappointed. But Donaldson ranks right up there with Tolkein - for never tempting me to cast a book through the window in frustration.
I have been trying to figure out a way to introduce my sons to Donaldson's work without seeming too pushy. It was my uninterupted devotion to reading through all of the first books in Donaldson's series that prompted my father to go out and buy the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings boxed set back in 1981. Which, at the wise old age of 17, I innitially rejected as too "boring" to waste my time on.
My sagatious father replied to my snobbery criptically enough to intrigue me.
"Some of the most interestings stories start boring." Disappointement was rife on his face, but he turned silently away and never spoke of it again. I went back to reading those books with determination to find out why they meant so much to him.
I have told that story to my own children, since the re-discovery of Tolkein's works by this new generation. Now I am thrilled that the new book from Donaldson has given me the opportunity to tell the other half of that story.
So, while I am not into role playing, I have come to recognize the contributions of great authors for the roles they have played in helping me discover who I am and who I want to be in life. This is a concept I have attempted to help my children understand as they have grown up, just as my grandmother and my father gently introduced me to those meaningful stories that helped me grow up.
True genious is not found so much in stories that captivate our minds and tantilize our thoughts as in the quality that comes out in a story that captures our souls and thrills us to knew heights of understanding.
That's the kind of genious Donaldson has.
I am the mother of 4 wonderful sons, 21, 18, 16, and 13.
I was at the bookstore with my youngest, looking for an interesting book for his most recent report, when he paused and took hold of a book with an interesting title..."The Ruins of Earth."
My heart thrilled when I saw the author's name. Many science fiction/fantasy authors leave me disappointed. But Donaldson ranks right up there with Tolkein - for never tempting me to cast a book through the window in frustration.
I have been trying to figure out a way to introduce my sons to Donaldson's work without seeming too pushy. It was my uninterupted devotion to reading through all of the first books in Donaldson's series that prompted my father to go out and buy the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings boxed set back in 1981. Which, at the wise old age of 17, I innitially rejected as too "boring" to waste my time on.
My sagatious father replied to my snobbery criptically enough to intrigue me.
"Some of the most interestings stories start boring." Disappointement was rife on his face, but he turned silently away and never spoke of it again. I went back to reading those books with determination to find out why they meant so much to him.
I have told that story to my own children, since the re-discovery of Tolkein's works by this new generation. Now I am thrilled that the new book from Donaldson has given me the opportunity to tell the other half of that story.
So, while I am not into role playing, I have come to recognize the contributions of great authors for the roles they have played in helping me discover who I am and who I want to be in life. This is a concept I have attempted to help my children understand as they have grown up, just as my grandmother and my father gently introduced me to those meaningful stories that helped me grow up.
True genious is not found so much in stories that captivate our minds and tantilize our thoughts as in the quality that comes out in a story that captures our souls and thrills us to knew heights of understanding.
That's the kind of genious Donaldson has.
