Im glad i didnt read this author when i was 19, i would have thought his prose,writing to be too much for me then.
Your remark reminded me of a little anecdote. I'd been a dedicated reader of fantasy for several years by the time I entered college, where I discovered that one of the professors was also a great one for reading fantasy. In fact, he offered a course on imaginative literature in which I enrolled, late in my freshman year. (The college was on a term-based rather than semester-based schedule. I think this course lasted for about ten weeks.)
The books that he chose seem (from my records) to have been:
Le Guin's
A Wizard of Earhsea
Lewis's trilogy of
Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength
Charles Williams's
The Place of the Lion (this might have been "extra credit" reading)
Peake's
Titus Groan
and, as I recall,
Hoban's
The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz
I'd read all of these except the Peake and Hoban titles before, but felt receptive indeed towards Peake. In fact, I borrowed the professor's copy of Peake's widow's memoir,
A World Away, and read that just before reading
Titus Groan.
When the class met to discuss the first (I assume) assigned portion of Peake's novel, students expressed their dislike of the book. I don't remember just what was said -- whether students said the book was "boring" or whatever. But I remember the professor not being shocked, but being visibly hurt by things that were said. I trust that I expressed my enjoyment of
TG.
Having written all of the above, I now realize that it might sound like I'm implying that you, Connavar, would have been among the students who expressed their dislike of the book and might have played a part in making the professor feel bad.
No! I do not mean to imply anything one way or the other about what you might have said had you been there. I mean only that your comment reminded me of this poignant moment.
