Tag: Jules Verne

‘Jules Verne vs. Stephen King’ (2013)

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Image result for images of the shining

I know some of you don’t like Jules Verne, but I do. His 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea captivated me as a little boy and continues to be one of my all-time favorite novels.

I thought Stephen King was great, too, back in the 1970s. But I find it a trial to read him now. What’s the difference between these two authors?

https://leeduigon.com/2013/09/07/jules-verne-vs-stephen-king/

I do get awful tired of Stephen King’s “the college guy is the real man–not those blue-collar oafs” schtick. Whatever made him put that into every book he ever wrote, like, dude–I don’t care.

Does Entertainment Shrivel Your Brain?

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Image result for images of 3 stooges throwing pies

For as long as there have been people, there have been story-tellers. God created us in His image, and so we like to create things, too. And one of the things we create is stories.

Being sinners, we also create idols, street gangs, rap music, poison gas, and communism, among other things. And we create stories that edify, stories that ease or stir the soul–and stories that debase and corrupt the hearer.

Some of you have said you’re fed up with “entertainment,” especially TV and movies, it’s all cheap and worthless, if not downright malevolent–and I’m not here to disagree with you. Crikey–it’s gotten so anyone who’s looking for a life partner demands that he or she be “funny.” Like it’s everybody’s job to entertain you, all the time.

You will note I have posted a picture of the Three Stooges. Why? Well, if I’m really stressed out, their inane antics are a pick-me-up. And that’s a legitimate purpose of a story. As J.R.R. Tolkien said, fiction often provides a kind of escape, and no one blames a prisoner for trying to escape.

In addition to meeting my needs for vegging out from time to time, movies and novels, etc., are my diet as a story-teller. I learn by listening to other people’s stories; that’s how I learn to tell my stories. I gobble up stories, always trying to learn from them even while I’m chilling out. I hope the finished product convinces you that I’m on the right track.

This is a large subject and I don’t propose to write a book about it. Some “entertainment” is good for us, some is bad, and some is only good or bad depending on how we as individuals respond to it. There is a huge amount of entertainment out there that’s downright toxic, pure crapola. It’s good stuff to avoid.

I do know a few persons who never consume any form of fiction, and I just can’t imagine how they get by without any stories at all. Well, true, all of them watch TV news, and some of that’s fiction, and the sum total of all its parts is more fiction than anything else. But I would much rather get my fiction from Jules Verne than from CNN.