Orson Scott Card: How 'Friend' Became a Verb

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703727804576017891806186856.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_opinion

by fidgross • 16 years ago

28 29 16 years ago

online.wsj.com

Qz2• 16 years ago

Bloggers did an end-run around Big Media to break the ideological stranglehold of the left.

I was willing to give him a chance since it's the WSJ, but he just had to throw something like that in there.

danilocampos• 16 years ago

How about giving him a chance because he's Orson Scott Card?

Either way, he's done some of my favorite science fiction titles but I mostly have to pretend he doesn't exist in real life. His politics, with regard to social issues, are just vulgar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Politics

astrodust2• 16 years ago

Oh, maybe you mean his extended fawning Hitler biography Ender's Game: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/5/28/22428/7034

mmastrac• 16 years ago

I have the same problem. The author and real-life raving loon are two different people in my head. Ender's Game is still one of the best books I've read and I have to keep this separation to avoid going out and donating the books of his I own.

I refuse to read any of his new stuff, but that's probably 50% politics and 50% taste.

rflrob• 16 years ago

>And subversives can expose diplomatic secrets, critics can expose scientific hoaxes, and governments can track conspiracies

While part of me is still hoping he's talking about Snopes, I know this is a reference to the University of East Anglia emails, which were about as much a blow to climate science as the Arsenic bacteria were a boon to astrobiology. I may have to adopt your "pretend he doesn't exist in real life" approach.

GavinB• 16 years ago

This bothered me, until I realized that I should be reading books by people with whom I disagree. The oddity of it is, one of the great things about his books is that they show perspectives much more alien than mere human political differences.

If you feel bad about supporting him financially, remember that he only gets about a dollar for each book you buy. If you borrow it from the library, your contribution is even smaller.

Qz2• 16 years ago

That link and everything associated with it is exactly why I don't give him a chance just because he's Orson Scott Card.

randallsquared• 16 years ago

You'll be happy to know that his newest, _Pathfinder_, is essentially politics-free. Of course, it also covers ground he's trod multiple times before, but if you like that sort of thing, it's fine. :)

astrodust2• 16 years ago

It must suck to live in a world where the main-stream media is so wildly left-wing you can't stand to read it. Just how extremely right-leaning do you have to be to end up with that perspective?

His opinions on other subjects range from misguided to outright offensive.

Orson Scott Card has devolved into a frothing at the mouth lunatic in recent years. His opinions are borderline worthless. His more recent novels make Twilight look like fine literature.

jodrellblank2• 16 years ago

Meta comment: +8? Who is upvoting this comment which is nothing but a stream of insults, and why?

You value this comment and want to see more of this kind of comment on HN?

joejohnson• 16 years ago

Ah, it's so sad to me because I really enjoyed the Ender books. But this guy is so frustrating to listen to and some of the quotes I have heard from him are incredibly offensive. I don't know where someone who seemed so intelligent a few years ago now appears to be out of touch with reality.

hnal943• 16 years ago

The popularity of Fox News channel indicates that most people think that the mainstream media is too left-wing.

pigbucket2• 16 years ago

Next time the author should write an article about how "friend" became a verb.

pjkundert• 16 years ago

"Friend" (the noun) has become "friend" (the verb). Hence, his usage is correct.

pigbucket2• 16 years ago

>"Friend" (the noun) has become "friend" (the verb). Hence, his usage is correct.

My comment was about the disparity between the title and the substance of the article, not about usage. Sorry for the confusion. But since you've got me typing again, one thing about the substance. Card is right to say historians have little to worry about, but the old hand-written letters, especially when written by the likes of Henry James, have always been more than grist for the historian's mill. They became in some cases a genuine art form. I think that is one of the things lost in the transition to electronic communication: a peculiar kind of intimate art form. Other art forms have risen to take their place: the art of the blog, the art of the 140-character witticism, but not, as far as I can tell, the art of the email--at least not if you discount the humorous trolls. It was surprising to me that Card, as a novelist, didn't address that.

blahedo• 16 years ago

I don't think there's a single new thing in there for readers of this site, but perhaps this counts as bringing these insights to the masses? Orson Scott Card may not be a household word, but possibly these ideas haven't yet gotten much play in the WSJ?

Or perhaps I'm just trying too hard to be charitable.

Orson Scott Card: How 'Friend' Became a Verb

Related Stories