Gotta Write Something

I was on a roll for awhile so I thought I better get to posting, the month is already half over.  So, some random things:

I'm reading The Sword of Shannara.  It's a book I read when I was 12 or so.  It was 1977 and it was a good time to be a young boy in central Indiana.  Star Wars, The Sword of Shannara, Action Comics with Curt Swan illustrating, Hot Wheels cars, camping and the beach were what was occuping my mind that summer.

I loved The Sword of Shannara then.  I remember it took me all summer to read the 700 something page book.  I have always been a fast reader and at the time I blamed those other summertime distractions for the time it took me to finish the book.  After re-reading it for the first time since then I realize that I was probably just bored.  It's funny how you remember things.  I always thought The Sword... the greatest fantasy book ever written.  I now believe it's one of the worst.  Well, maybe that's a little harsh, it is definitely one of the blandest.  I think at the time I was smitten with the concept of the story.  I had been reading Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Robert Heinlein and the Warlord of Mars series and desperately wanted to be swept off to another planet for a grand adventure.  The idea of a young man finding out he's destined to save the world was very appealing to a prepubescent boy struggling with preteen angst.  Of course it still holds a certain appeal to a middle-aged guy struggling with a mortgage and crappy job.  It didn't hurt that it had illustrations by the Brothers Hilderbrandt.  Coming off of the Star Wars movie poster they were the hot ticket for a little geek like me.  It was guaranteed I would love anything they were involved in.

The problem is as a 12 year old boy I did not have as sophisticated a taste in literature as I like to think.  The writing is repetitive and the descriptions are bland and boring.  Reading the book again has been an exercise in boredom.

Aside from that Colorado is currently in the middle of washing away.  The rain has been really great this summer but you know it's too much of a good thing when whole towns are evacuated and people die.  We're on high ground and so far the only real affect I've experienced is that I didn't ride the bike to work today.  Hydroplaning on a motorcycle is about as much fun as reading The Sword of Shannara.