Thursday, August 12, 2010

Why is it...?

....That whenever people feel compelled to share that they dislike the Wold Newton concept, they also feel compelled to back up their dislike with wildly exaggerated assertions such as this one: "[It] attempts to show that every pulp fiction character ever created is related to all the others through the Wold Newton bloodline."

Even error-prone Wikipedia gets this simple idea right, and nowhere was it ever claimed that Farmer, or anyone else playing the Game, attempted or is attempting to relate every pulp fiction character ever created to the Wold Newton Family.

Sheesh.

6 comments:

Toby O'B said...

Better to just ignore them, unless you know where to leave the flaming bag of dog poop.....

Talekyn said...

That kind of comment is just so lazy. Obviously, they haven't bothered to read your introduction, where you pretty much say you're not attempting blood relations, just showing how things are interconnected by place, time, etc. Duh.

Evan Lewis said...

Big concept. Small minds.

LL said...

Wow! Never thought a comment would stir up such a tempest. SOrry if I hurt your feelings, but I read Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic life some years ago, found then tiresome and dull, and I admit I may no remember all the details correctly, but I do remember a family tree at the front of the Savage volume that was...well, you know.. Some people like Superman, some people like Batman, some people like asparagus, some don't. How does that make anyone "wrong"? I didn't say that anyone who liked the WN concept was lazy or want to use flaming dog poop on their door. I made it clear that it was my own opinion. So why so defensive? WN is a fictional construct about fictional characters and if you want to spend your time in that world, go to it and with my blessing. But get off your high horses about someone who has a different opinion. It's like arguing who would win if the Thing fought the Hulk. I like my characters to exist in their own worlds, you like them to exist in a single world. Again, so what? I liked Planetary's take on the shared world concept because it was its own beast; Black Dossier, however, I found t & d.
So forgive my ignorance, forgive me for not being an expert, but please accept that I read enough about the WN universe to dislike it. Reasonable minds can differ.

Win Scott Eckert said...

@LL: Um... holy shit, you really missed it. I could care less if you like the Wold Newton concept or not; many people don't. My feelings are not hurt by that, I'm a big boy. I've written stories, novels, etc., and put myself out there for reviews, good and bad.

My comment, if you care to go back and read it, was solely about your exaggeration and distortion, which is designed to show how stoo-pid the WN Game is, and how clever and cool you are for disliking it:

"...the Wold Newton Universe created by Philip José Farmer,
which attempts to show that every pulp fiction character ever created is related
to all the others..."

I get tired of people such as yourself dismissing the concept with such distortions. That's it.

I never said you were "wrong" for disliking it. No high horses here.

So sorry you misread my complaint and overreacted.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
-John F. Kennedy, historian, writer, 35th US president (1917-1963)

Deka Black said...

Ignore them. As Don Quixote said: "Ladran, luego cabalgamos" (They bark, then we ride)