Thanks for the link; that was a brilliant essay. I read "Ender's Game" with a sort of horrified fascination; it made me queasy, and I could not quite express why. This author has. "Ender's Game" reminded me of "Lord of the Flies", but even at first blush struck me as much more troubling and muddle-headed; I own books by Golding but have no desire to reread anything by Card.
As to whether Rowling is going, ultimately, to be as morally empty as this - I do hope not. At this point, it could go either way, but I'm reading the books as a quest for redemption and reconciliation, rather than a standard kill-the-monsters sort of story. So Harry is (1) going to have to face his own bad acts *and* bad intentions (and it's really weird that Card tries to separate these two. If they can be separated, it's what you do that makes you 'bad'. No one but God can really judge anyone's intentions.), and (2) forgive his enemies. Snape is going to have to do the same. voldemort will be defeated if, and only if, these two reconcile. I also think that, if Rowling is heading in Card's direction (I sincerely hope not), Harry is more like Ender than Snape is, for exactly the reasons teratologist gives above. I, for one, would like to see some real evidence of the pure heart and capacity for love Dumbledore kept talking about.
Thanks for the link! I know a few adolescent readers I'm going to pass it on to. (It's a bit scary how much young teen boys love "Ender".)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-12-01 04:31 am (UTC)As to whether Rowling is going, ultimately, to be as morally empty as this - I do hope not. At this point, it could go either way, but I'm reading the books as a quest for redemption and reconciliation, rather than a standard kill-the-monsters sort of story. So Harry is (1) going to have to face his own bad acts *and* bad intentions (and it's really weird that Card tries to separate these two. If they can be separated, it's what you do that makes you 'bad'. No one but God can really judge anyone's intentions.), and (2) forgive his enemies. Snape is going to have to do the same. voldemort will be defeated if, and only if, these two reconcile. I also think that, if Rowling is heading in Card's direction (I sincerely hope not), Harry is more like Ender than Snape is, for exactly the reasons teratologist gives above. I, for one, would like to see some real evidence of the pure heart and capacity for love Dumbledore kept talking about.
Thanks for the link! I know a few adolescent readers I'm going to pass it on to. (It's a bit scary how much young teen boys love "Ender".)