Platypus of Truth

Being sick this week has left me with some time on my hands and that means that I've had an opportunity to finish reading Ursula Le Guin's "Lavinia" and think on it for a bit.  Without further ado then, here we go. To state the premiss, "Lavinia" is a retelling of books 6-12 of Virgil's "Aeneid" in novel form and told from the point of view of the Latin princess Lavinia.  The choice is a tempting one for any author as Virgil gives this important character no lines and hardly any time on stage.  As a writer with feminist leanings, one can see why giving a "voice" to the "voiceless" and "objectified" Lavinia would be an instant draw for Le Guin.  However, given the work itself and Le Guin's afterword, it seems as if a feminist critical intervention on one of the arch dead-white-men is the furthest thing from her mind.  Instead "Lavinia" seems to spring from a deep love of Virgil's epic work and a

I'm working my way through Ursula K. Le Guin's novel "Lavinia" right now.  It's interesting to watch her attempt to fill in one of the gaping holes in Virgil's unfinished masterpiece.  So far, it's complex and rather interesting, not preachy or heavy-handed; LeGuin at her best.  Has anyone else read it?  Once I finish the thin up, I'll let you know what I think.

After a string of posts about video games, the inhibited part of me is feeling self-conscious about any pretensions I have to adulthood and being a serious scholar.  That leads me to another discussion I had this weekend with the Game Guru and his wife who both possess 1337 combat skills (No, really, you should see what they can do with a Cutco knife).  We were reminiscing about all our extra-circular activities while growing up and I suddenly realized that my life aged 7 to 18 contained a whole lot more than I thought. So, what was I doing back then?  In between beating "Secret of Mana," "Final Fantasy II," "Chrono Trigger," "Super Mario RPG," "A Link to the Past," and "Ocarina of Time" I also found time for: 1. Knife Throwing 2. Archery 3. Wilderness Survival 4. Fishing 5. Shooting (Dad didn't allow hunting) 6. Amateur Entemology (I still wince at the opening discription of Eustace in VotDT) 7. Drawing (occasio

My friend, the Game Guru , spent the past weekend with us.  As usual, this meant a chance for me to catch up on the state of the field.  Being the slow-coach that I am, I had to admit that I wasn't bothering with Elder Scrolls VII so much as puttering around with Final Fantasy III/VI .  This didn't bother the Game Guru at all so we popped the old cartridge in and did a little dungeon crawl.  While trying to drill the SrBehemoth, I pointed out that the game was a lot easier than when I was fifteen.  Indeed, all of Square's games have gotten much easier since I've aged a bit.  My friend replied that the versions that were put out in the U.S. were often "dumbed-down" on the theory that U.S. players were young children.  This led to a consideration of what makes a game "adult."  We came down on complexity of story and theme and difficulty of play. Now, when we talk about media being "adult," those aren't the two things that typically come

I found this image over at the Nintendo website celebrating the 25 year anniversary of "The Legend of Zelda."  There's something about it that really captures the soul of the series: that perfect mix of Tolkien and Tom Sawyer. Truth be told, I'm not sure where this string of posts on the series has come from.  I don't think I've played a Zelda game in a couple years at least.  Maybe it's been more like three or four.  SquareEnix and Blizzard have had most of my attention for a while now.  Maybe that means the time to return to Hyrule is rolling round again.  Maybe it just means I'm getting old and nostalgic.  There is something about this picture that takes me back to age twelve or thirteen and warm summer days spent in the shadow of the woods.

I got my Super Nintendo Entertainment System when I was eleven years old.  That's a couple years after it first came out.  The occasion was a little dramatic: to celebrate the end of a two-and-a-half year course of treatment for cancer.  I had no idea that it would be waiting for me at home after the final doctors visit.  It was a nice spring day, the trees were waving gently in the breeze outside the bay windows.  With a cup of tea resting on the coffee table, I set down to play.  What was that first game?  It was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past .  Around twenty years later, my SNES still works as does that Zelda cartridge.  It's been a long way from boyhood in Southern Connecticut to manhood in North Houston, but I'm still playing. Why am I still playing?  There were stretches when I didn't.  Many times, I've just been too busy.  There were also seasons when it felt embarrassing to still be playing video games.  Aren't they just for kids, and boys wh

This past year represented an unprecedented jump in the number of posts here at "The Platypus of Truth."  Now that 2012 has begun, the official total is fixed at 93.  This blows 2010's 66 posts out of the water and sets the bar high for the new year.  The main culprits seem to be my treks through Terry Brooks' "Elfstones of Shannara" and "Wishsong of Shannara," " The Mammoth Book of Fantasy, " and a gloss of Tennyson's " The Passing of Arthur. "  Since "The Platypus of Truth" primarily serves as a venue for my literary musings, that's not surprising. There were some other trends this year at "The Platypus of Truth," however.  For instance, 2011 saw a return to meditations on video and computer games especially new favorites Starcraft II , and Titan Quest , and old faithfuls Final Fantasy III , and The Legend of Zelda .  Branching out a bit, I also attempted a look at the state of the field in ligh