50 in '13: #11

[sakon76]

Title: Ender's Game
Author: Orson Scott Card
Length: 324 pages


Ahh, the dilemma. Whether or not to see a movie coming out in a few months. On one hand, the author of the book it's based on is a bigot. On the other hand, Harrison Ford. It comes down to the ethical issue of whether or not a work can be appreciated independent of its creator.

So, to the library to at least read the book.

It's basically a story of putting a brilliant kid in a pressure cooker for five years of his life. Never letting up, shaping and molding him into a brilliant strategist and commander. Making sure he's capable of taking the kill while at the same time retaining a core of humanity. And then pulling the world out from under him. The end of the book feels weaker than the main part of the storyline, but I'm not sure how it could have been made better.

As for the movie version, Harrison Ford, I've decided, is wonderfully cast as Graff. I'm slightly less sure on Ben Kingsley as Mazer, but am willing to be convinced. I suspect there's going to be some severe time condensation involved, as Ender goes from five to eleven in the book, and I'm not sure at all how Hollywood is going to handle the book's ending....

So, will I see the film? Probably I'll wait to hear the reviews, and depending on that, see it either at full price or in the $2 theater.

As for the book, verdict: recommended.

Comments

[xianghua.livejournal.com]

An interesting essay about Ender's Game that you might enjoy - http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/Killer_000.htm

I decided that as nostalgic as I was about liking the book when I was 12, I don't need to see the movie. Maybe on Netflix.

[sakon76.livejournal.com]

Ooh, interesting read! Thank you for the link. It definitely gave me some deeper thoughts to chew on about the blameless violence in the book.

I figure how soon I see the film and how much I pay to do so will be directly related to how good its reviews are. :)

[xianghua.livejournal.com]

:D I think it *is* an interesting take on it and it really resonates in a way for me, especially having read more of Card's comments and statements about the book over the years. Ender's a great character that can be pointed to as a sort of an example of 'if this was fanfic, we'd call him a gary stu'- not because of his superlative abilities, but in the way that his actions' consequences are calculated to get the most sympathy possible for him in some weird way- his actions are ALWAYS justified and ALWAYS the right ones.And the viewpoint makes reading that as a falliable narrator difficult.

ANYWAY. I HAVE FEELZ ABOUT THAT BOOK.

[fairegoddess.livejournal.com]

I've read the whole series (don't bother unless you're into global political conflict and weird philosophical preaching... which I'm not, but I soldiered through), and hold that Ender's Game is by far the best. I've always really enjoyed it, despite its dark themes, and I have the audio book (not full cast, but multiple narrator) which I listen to about once a month (switching off with World War Z and The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, as mood dictates).

I'm torn about what to do about the movie. I've been following its production since it was finally green-lit for reals, and agree that Harrison Ford will be a brilliant Graff. However, the calls for boycotting do resonate with me as a progressive and loving human being... I'm torn. His beliefs obviously leak into and shape the story he tells, but I don't feel that as a work Ender's Game promotes a bigoted agenda even if its author does.

So yes, it does come down to whether or not a work can be appreciated independent of its creator. I think that it can (just look at Michael Jackson, Robert Downey Jr, hell any major celebrity that's always in the news all the time but people still love their movies/music/etc).

[sakon76.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading the Wikipedia summaries of most of the other books, and I think you're right and they really don't sound like something I'd much enjoy reading. (It's the same problem I have with the fifty billion Dune sequels. The first book is good. The rest of the series just feels like the author(s) wanking.)

I agree that this book, at least, does not feel particularly bigoted. It has just enough shades of emotional pseudo-incest to make me feel uncomfortable, but then so do certain of Heinlein's works. (And Heinlein took the theme all the way. As did Smith in the Lensman books. At least here, Card does not. Thank God for the limitations of a pre-pubescent protagonist.)

I like the comparison you make to Michael Jackson, who, whether or whether not he was a pedophile, still ended up coming off a bit creepy by the end. Yet a decent portion of his music remains brilliant. RDJ I give a bit more of a pass to, since he seems to have faced his demons, realized his limitations, and made himself into a decent human being once again.

So, I guess, in the end I'll probably see the movie. Because much as I dislike Card's views, they are (1) now irrelevant, and (2) he's not the only one whose career I'd be supporting by doing so. And I'm pretty sure that there have got to be at least one or two people on the long ten-minute scroll of credits at the end of the film whose opinions are the dire opposite of his. :)

[tainry.livejournal.com]

You have a good point re boycotting the movie hurting more than Card. And probably not really Card at all - he's already got his money I'd think?
My brother has the book and I've been waffling about reading it. I kind of think I'd rather spend my reading time reading more C.J. Cherryh... ^^; (There's that whole Foreigner series that a friend has recced to me as being particularly likely to push my favorite buttons. Well. The favorite non-robot-related buttons anyway.)