tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post7940365163729960288..comments2023-04-27T04:39:45.647-04:00Comments on JT Thinks About Stuff: Book Review: The Man Who Invented FictionJThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170062950345779215noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-30465547520597832222016-07-15T10:23:12.916-04:002016-07-15T10:23:12.916-04:00I encountered The City and the Stars at just about...I encountered <i>The City and the Stars</i> at just about the same age. It was one of my gateway SF books. Something about discontented outsider male teen protagonists, do you suppose? Robin read it on my recommendation when we were just getting acquainted, and was much less impressed.<br /><br />As far as <i>Don Quixote</i>, there's no doubt that it's one of the most influential books of all time. Equally, it's one of the first books that a modern reader would recognize as "a novel" (this isn't just me talking; it's a conventional critic's note). As far as its longevity goes, I think of it as akin to the longevity of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: the characters, and the interplay between them, are so perfect that people from many different times and places can enjoy them--and adapt them to their own understandings.JThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12170062950345779215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-50611018658723698252016-07-14T23:16:26.742-04:002016-07-14T23:16:26.742-04:00You know I read The City and the Stars at least fo...You know I read The City and the Stars at least four times over one summer when I was 14 or so, and yet I failed to recognize the protagonist's name tonight. All the others, yes they are ones I could identify with. <br /><br />That said the novel itself is read in translation in many lands and places, having outlived and outpaced many a lesser novel, so it may in regard of the title (at least?) be ushering in said modern age?Varianorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09576040365080504873noreply@blogger.com