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Fantasy has no easy definition. Werthead Send a noteboard - 07/12/2009 02:46:33 AM
Given the Clute/Grant Encyclopedia of Fantasy can't seem to settle on one in 1.5 million words and 6,000 entries (and their own three-page definition of 'FANTASY' includes numerous caveats and exceptions), I don't really see anyone else coming up with one that works satisfyingly either, especially when you factor in people arguing if the magic realists should be on there or not: Clute & Grant lean towards inclusion of works with undeniable fantastical elements, but seem divided over works where the characters' own delusions and fantasies play a major role in proceedings.

You then have something like Christopher Priest's THE AFFIRMATION, where the entire fantasy story takes place in the main character's head, but the fantasy story is incredibly vivid, takes place in a richly detailed secondary world and events within that world are given tremendous resonance and importance. Priest dodges the bullet on that one by introducing enough doubt into the finale to make it appear that the main character is actually a native of the secondary world and has dreamed/fantasised our world into existence instead, which would make it indisputably of the fantasy genre.
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Since people are weighing in on that best fantasy list I posted, how many on this list have ya read? - 06/12/2009 05:22:40 AM 2260 Views
A lot of those books aren't fantasy. - 06/12/2009 05:34:18 AM 793 Views
Most of those depend upon how loosely one defines it - 06/12/2009 06:41:50 AM 769 Views
Up next, fantasy fans attempt to co-opt Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot. *NM* - 06/12/2009 07:20:03 AM 244 Views
Actually, considering who put that list together, I'd at least look into their rationales - 06/12/2009 07:42:11 AM 702 Views
Mmm... there's been a pronounced tendency among spec ficcers, from what I've seen, - 06/12/2009 09:09:26 AM 951 Views
I agree - 06/12/2009 09:35:32 AM 700 Views
I'm a bit different than that - 06/12/2009 09:20:09 PM 760 Views
Re: I'm a bit different than that - 07/12/2009 02:04:47 AM 799 Views
Then what should it be defined as? - 07/12/2009 02:28:55 AM 847 Views
What, didn't you major in Fixing Up Confusions and other Issues? - 07/12/2009 02:49:30 AM 538 Views
I majored in raising more questions and doubting absolutes - 07/12/2009 02:50:35 AM 667 Views
You majored in being a pain in the butt is what you majored in. - 07/12/2009 02:52:00 AM 700 Views
No, that was my second minor - 07/12/2009 02:54:53 AM 628 Views
In that case, I trust my definition more than theirs. - 07/12/2009 03:05:32 AM 684 Views
Re: I majored in raising more questions and doubting absolutes - 08/12/2009 10:59:03 PM 740 Views
Not really - 08/12/2009 11:19:46 PM 1019 Views
Fantasy has no easy definition. - 07/12/2009 02:46:33 AM 752 Views
That's true. - 07/12/2009 02:50:37 AM 714 Views
But the Song of Soloman is certainly akin to that *NM* - 07/12/2009 02:51:21 AM 236 Views
No, that's just porn. *NM* - 07/12/2009 02:52:24 AM 330 Views
If you redefine fatasy as fiction, the category loses its value - 06/12/2009 12:33:03 PM 731 Views
Remember what I studied for my grad degree - 06/12/2009 04:10:08 PM 746 Views
Re: Remember what I studied for my grad degree - 06/12/2009 04:33:58 PM 759 Views
Really? - 06/12/2009 09:22:21 PM 872 Views
Re: Really? - 06/12/2009 10:49:36 PM 826 Views
Literature does not exist in a vacuum - 06/12/2009 10:53:58 PM 536 Views
Obviously I know that - 06/12/2009 11:30:55 PM 689 Views
But it is a material artifact of a culture - 07/12/2009 12:47:45 AM 602 Views
But that is not all it is. - 07/12/2009 08:16:32 AM 799 Views
Indeed. A lot of them are science fiction. - 06/12/2009 04:32:26 PM 716 Views
Re: Indeed. A lot of them are science fiction. - 06/12/2009 05:01:55 PM 617 Views
Several dozen contributed to the suggestion list - 06/12/2009 09:23:21 PM 537 Views
I've read 34. - 06/12/2009 10:53:38 AM 599 Views
78 that I have finished, but that is really not the point. - 06/12/2009 11:55:16 AM 745 Views
Definitions of "fantasy" vary considerably - 06/12/2009 09:25:35 PM 695 Views
According to the one you just applied, my master's thesis was one... - 06/12/2009 10:47:25 PM 611 Views
It's just a state of mind, I suppose - 07/12/2009 12:50:22 AM 709 Views
Re: It's just a state of mind, I suppose - 07/12/2009 08:17:09 AM 746 Views
I've read 28. - 06/12/2009 03:42:40 PM 788 Views
89... but in general, that is many by the same author. - 06/12/2009 06:17:06 PM 597 Views
46. This is an idiotic list. A Confederacy of Dunces just IS NOT fantasy. - 06/12/2009 08:34:07 PM 828 Views
You say that, based on having read maybe 2% of the list? - 06/12/2009 09:27:32 PM 528 Views
Jane Eyre? - 07/12/2009 12:00:36 AM 678 Views
It plays upon the Gothic novel precepts - 07/12/2009 12:51:31 AM 548 Views
Larry...come on...if it's Fantasy I have a bridge in Brooklyn for you to buy - 07/12/2009 04:17:38 AM 731 Views
Devise a better? - 07/12/2009 04:34:46 AM 644 Views
It would be much shorter - 07/12/2009 02:20:05 PM 913 Views
It should be shorter than some of the ones you listed - 08/12/2009 11:26:35 PM 650 Views
Argh. Your quoting skills need work. *NM* - 09/12/2009 08:58:15 AM 347 Views
You seem to be misunderstanding Tom's post. - 09/12/2009 10:57:08 AM 661 Views
No,I was just just commenting on my likes/dislikes of that list - 09/12/2009 01:21:45 PM 801 Views
I think you are misunderstanding again... - 09/12/2009 01:46:49 PM 773 Views
Yes. What Jonte said. *NM* - 09/12/2009 02:41:41 PM 363 Views
Oh,that - 09/12/2009 06:07:11 PM 848 Views
Re: It should be shorter than some of the ones you listed - 21/12/2009 09:35:11 AM 1060 Views
I read it very recently. He masturbates to a dog. Fetishes != fantasy. - 07/12/2009 01:58:57 AM 571 Views
Like I said, it's been years for me - 07/12/2009 02:30:58 AM 774 Views
No worries. That one just got me a little testy. - 07/12/2009 02:48:01 AM 668 Views
I've read about 90 of them - 18/12/2009 03:37:49 PM 930 Views

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