Awesome interview! I have read the Thomas Covenant books many times since i discovered them in 1983. I am re reading them now, I am in the middle of the Illearth War! A beautiful and rewarding series.
What a freaking genius . Thomas Covenant Leper Outcast Unclean ! White Gold Wielder Ur Lord. I grew up with Chronicles it is an amazing work of literature
I started reading the Covenant Chronicles back in 1978 when I was in high school. Up to this time the only fantasy books I had read were the Chronicles of Narnia and the Hobbit (which I loved). I had yet to read the Lord of the Rings so this was my first real diving into adult fantasy. I loved these books and recommended them to my brother, who later recommended them to his eldest son. My father also read the first book and hated it. But I was hooked. When the second and final chronicles came out, I got each book and quick read them. Later, I got the complete series on audiobooks and have enjoyed them again and again.
I did a bad thing when I was 13 years old, so bad that I forget entirely what it actually was. This led to me being grounded for the whole school summer holiday in my bedroom. A friend of the family gave me a book as I walked towards the stairs, bound for my bed for the rest of the summer. The book was Lord Fouls Bane.
Haven't read anything by him yet, but it's striking how I'm getting David Foster Wallace vibes from this interview. Specifically the Charlie Rose interview.
Thank you for uploading. Obviously a very intelligent bloke. I need my Google word search quite often. I am reading the Thomas Covenant books again now they are all out but unfortunately I don't commute far every day any more so reading when I am in the ... errr... well ...erm... sitting down every - day losing some weight... if you know what I mean.
S.R. Donaldson is The Man. The Covenant series, for myself, are to be read and re -read periodically. His works are meditations for those who love language as if it were a Phoenix risen from the human cosmos.
this is the first time i’ve ever seen him talk and i have to admit i’m surprised. artists so often represent themselves in their art and he doesn’t seem anything like covenant.
That's funny, my first impression of him is that he could play Covenant in a movie. He seems like a much nicer guy, of course. But they're both writers, so they both have a great command of the English language, both of them are on the thin side, and both are about the same age. If this guy was subjected to the same tragedies as Covenant, and therefore developed the same bitter outlook, I think he'd be pretty close.
@@davidfinch7407 philosophically i agree; any one is capable of anything, no matter how horrific, given the right circumstances. but as much as i love the series, i find covenant to be grossly morose and self-involved. his story is a great one but i don't think i've ever disliked a protagonist as much, with the possible exception of ignatius p. reilly.
The first six books in the Covenant series have some unbelievable characters, moments and ideas. I'll never forget the slaying of the giants for example. As a teenager I was obsessed with them. I went on to read all his short stories and the gap series which I also loved. On reflection though I don't think he's a particularly good writer for two main reasons. Firstly he often reads like a man who swallowed a thesaurus, and secondly I don't think an author should ever tell us the direct thoughts of a character. It's much better, in my opinion, to intimate them through word and deed. I'm not suggesting that an author shouldn't have a broad vocabulary, but writing should not necessarily be noticed, instead it should be like a window through which you see the story. I think the more you notice the writing the more you are taken out of the moment. Having discovered what I consider great writers later in life I now view the way the inner conflict of Donaldson's characters is portrayed as quite clumsy, and ultimately counter-productive. Still, I respect him as a story-teller, and certainly appreciate his imagination, I just no longer think him as a good writer.
I'm currently re-reading the first book and I'm stumbling over the rape scene. It's bad enough on it's own, but what I don't see- yet- is a sufficient remorse for what he's done. It's literally been 40 years almost since I first read this, so maybe this comes later, I can't remember.
Part of the issue with that is that at the time of the rape, Covenant doesn't see the Land as a real place and he doesn't see Lena as a real person. His, uh, renewed vitality catches him off guard and he behaves as he would in a fantasy. He doesn't take the Land at face value as real or something he cares about for quite a long time and he calls himself 'unbeliever' because he can't take what's happening to him seriously, including his own actions. This doesn't mean he doesn't feel guilty later, because he sends the Ranyhyn to visit Lena believing that that somewhat makes amends for his behaviour although he knows that nothing ever really could, and of course that becomes a plot point in the next book iirc.
I can feel the expressions of his Covenant characters in his manner. I don't know why, I assumed he was English though, perhaps that "hell & blood" exclamation Tom is so fond of?
He ruined her life. Her finding out in the third book how her daughter had died and her own death in the third book was so sad. Really painful to read.
I read that scene when I was 8 years old. It bothered me so much that I stopped reading. Many years later I went back and read the 1st trilogy. I wasn't traumatized but I still found myself wondering why Stephen R Donaldson wrote that scene. And why, moreover, did he make Thomas Covenant such an overall schmuck? To my mind, these are grievous errors that ruin the books.
@@jjvladimir6070 I mean, that is the overall crux of everything that comes after! It might ruin the books for YOU, but it does not ruin them. It is instead the foundation for them. TC is a schmuck, and STILL he decides to be better.
@@scitzz I remember liking other things about Donaldson's writing, but not detecting any appreciable development of TC's character. But I could be wrong. Would you say TC being a schmuck and "still deciding to be better" is one of the things that makes the trilogy worth reading? I'm sincerely asking, and not trying to be sarcastic. I've been wrong about books before and it sometimes takes a second reading for me to get them.
Unless one sees this interview , those audible readers of his masterwok of the Thomas Chronicles simply fail to deliver what they themselves first got! Do better. I speak as one who is a dedicated ( and dare I say writer and reader of C. J. Cherry? ), share the language as you grow with the inspiration. Let's learn and enjoy together, please.
![Understanding Marxism: Q&A with Richard D. Wolff [June 2019]](/img/n.gif)
Nom.
I loved all the Covenant books, and the Gap series was great also.
Awesome interview! I have read the Thomas Covenant books many times since i discovered them in 1983. I am re reading them now, I am in the middle of the Illearth War! A beautiful and rewarding series.
Thomas Covenant changed my view of dreams.
What a freaking genius . Thomas Covenant Leper Outcast Unclean ! White Gold Wielder Ur Lord. I grew up with Chronicles it is an amazing work of literature
I started reading the Covenant Chronicles back in 1978 when I was in high school. Up to this time the only fantasy books I had read were the Chronicles of Narnia and the Hobbit (which I loved). I had yet to read the Lord of the Rings so this was my first real diving into adult fantasy. I loved these books and recommended them to my brother, who later recommended them to his eldest son. My father also read the first book and hated it. But I was hooked. When the second and final chronicles came out, I got each book and quick read them. Later, I got the complete series on audiobooks and have enjoyed them again and again.
I did a bad thing when I was 13 years old, so bad that I forget entirely what it actually was. This led to me being grounded for the whole school summer holiday in my bedroom.
A friend of the family gave me a book as I walked towards the stairs, bound for my bed for the rest of the summer.
The book was Lord Fouls Bane.
Haven't read anything by him yet, but it's striking how I'm getting David Foster Wallace vibes from this interview. Specifically the Charlie Rose interview.
Thank you for uploading.
Obviously a very intelligent bloke. I need my Google word search quite often.
I am reading the Thomas Covenant books again now they are all out but unfortunately I don't commute far every day any more so reading when I am in the ... errr... well ...erm... sitting down every - day losing some weight... if you know what I mean.
I’ve only read the Gap Sequence. Excellent although I struggled with the graphic nature of Morn’s victimisation. Must look at the Chronicles.
A writer's writer, this interview has solidified my by belief in sci-fi literature as a true visionary force for good.
S.R. Donaldson is The Man. The Covenant series, for myself, are to be read and re -read periodically. His works are meditations for those who love language as if it were a Phoenix risen from the human cosmos.
I love the books, but laugh at this word.
chiaroscuro.
Good stuff. Thank you for posting this.
this is the first time i’ve ever seen him talk and i have to admit i’m surprised. artists so often represent themselves in their art and he doesn’t seem anything like covenant.
That's funny, my first impression of him is that he could play Covenant in a movie. He seems like a much nicer guy, of course. But they're both writers, so they both have a great command of the English language, both of them are on the thin side, and both are about the same age. If this guy was subjected to the same tragedies as Covenant, and therefore developed the same bitter outlook, I think he'd be pretty close.
@@davidfinch7407 philosophically i agree; any one is capable of anything, no matter how horrific, given the right circumstances. but as much as i love the series, i find covenant to be grossly morose and self-involved. his story is a great one but i don't think i've ever disliked a protagonist as much, with the possible exception of ignatius p. reilly.
Affirmative ‼️☑️➕☮️
The first six books in the Covenant series have some unbelievable characters, moments and ideas. I'll never forget the slaying of the giants for example. As a teenager I was obsessed with them. I went on to read all his short stories and the gap series which I also loved. On reflection though I don't think he's a particularly good writer for two main reasons. Firstly he often reads like a man who swallowed a thesaurus, and secondly I don't think an author should ever tell us the direct thoughts of a character. It's much better, in my opinion, to intimate them through word and deed. I'm not suggesting that an author shouldn't have a broad vocabulary, but writing should not necessarily be noticed, instead it should be like a window through which you see the story. I think the more you notice the writing the more you are taken out of the moment. Having discovered what I consider great writers later in life I now view the way the inner conflict of Donaldson's characters is portrayed as quite clumsy, and ultimately counter-productive. Still, I respect him as a story-teller, and certainly appreciate his imagination, I just no longer think him as a good writer.
Donaldson's work is almost poetic.
I'm currently re-reading the first book and I'm stumbling over the rape scene. It's bad enough on it's own, but what I don't see- yet- is a sufficient remorse for what he's done. It's literally been 40 years almost since I first read this, so maybe this comes later, I can't remember.
Part of the issue with that is that at the time of the rape, Covenant doesn't see the Land as a real place and he doesn't see Lena as a real person. His, uh, renewed vitality catches him off guard and he behaves as he would in a fantasy. He doesn't take the Land at face value as real or something he cares about for quite a long time and he calls himself 'unbeliever' because he can't take what's happening to him seriously, including his own actions. This doesn't mean he doesn't feel guilty later, because he sends the Ranyhyn to visit Lena believing that that somewhat makes amends for his behaviour although he knows that nothing ever really could, and of course that becomes a plot point in the next book iirc.
I can feel the expressions of his Covenant characters in his manner. I don't know why, I assumed he was English though, perhaps that "hell & blood" exclamation Tom is so fond of?
I can never forgive Covenant for what he did to Lena... So sad...
He ruined her life. Her finding out in the third book how her daughter had died and her own death in the third book was so sad. Really painful to read.
I think his guilt through out the series speaks for itself.
I read that scene when I was 8 years old. It bothered me so much that I stopped reading. Many years later I went back and read the 1st trilogy. I wasn't traumatized but I still found myself wondering why Stephen R Donaldson wrote that scene. And why, moreover, did he make Thomas Covenant such an overall schmuck? To my mind, these are grievous errors that ruin the books.
@@jjvladimir6070 I mean, that is the overall crux of everything that comes after! It might ruin the books for YOU, but it does not ruin them. It is instead the foundation for them. TC is a schmuck, and STILL he decides to be better.
@@scitzz I remember liking other things about Donaldson's writing, but not detecting any appreciable development of TC's character. But I could be wrong. Would you say TC being a schmuck and "still deciding to be better" is one of the things that makes the trilogy worth reading? I'm sincerely asking, and not trying to be sarcastic. I've been wrong about books before and it sometimes takes a second reading for me to get them.
I love his books... but geeeez, he sure is a bit long winded!
So are his books, absolute shit!
Sir, this is a Wendy’s…? (Obviously a brilliant guy. Wonderful vocabulary. Bring your thesaurus or dictionary)
This is going to sound weird but... he looks like Thomas Covenant.
Unless one sees this interview , those audible readers of his masterwok of the Thomas Chronicles simply fail to deliver what they themselves first got! Do better. I speak as one who is a dedicated ( and dare I say writer and reader of C. J. Cherry? ), share the language as you grow with the inspiration. Let's learn and enjoy together, please.