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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 2408 Views
A lot of those books aren't fantasy. - 06/12/2009 05:34:18 AM 935 Views
Most of those depend upon how loosely one defines it - 06/12/2009 06:41:50 AM 915 Views
Up next, fantasy fans attempt to co-opt Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot. *NM* - 06/12/2009 07:20:03 AM 338 Views
Actually, considering who put that list together, I'd at least look into their rationales - 06/12/2009 07:42:11 AM 841 Views
Mmm... there's been a pronounced tendency among spec ficcers, from what I've seen, - 06/12/2009 09:09:26 AM 1100 Views
I agree - 06/12/2009 09:35:32 AM 831 Views
I'm a bit different than that - 06/12/2009 09:20:09 PM 920 Views
Re: I'm a bit different than that - 07/12/2009 02:04:47 AM 952 Views
Then what should it be defined as? - 07/12/2009 02:28:55 AM 989 Views
What, didn't you major in Fixing Up Confusions and other Issues? - 07/12/2009 02:49:30 AM 690 Views
I majored in raising more questions and doubting absolutes - 07/12/2009 02:50:35 AM 814 Views
You majored in being a pain in the butt is what you majored in. - 07/12/2009 02:52:00 AM 866 Views
No, that was my second minor - 07/12/2009 02:54:53 AM 759 Views
In that case, I trust my definition more than theirs. - 07/12/2009 03:05:32 AM 837 Views
Re: I majored in raising more questions and doubting absolutes - 08/12/2009 10:59:03 PM 872 Views
Not really - 08/12/2009 11:19:46 PM 1230 Views
Fantasy has no easy definition. - 07/12/2009 02:46:33 AM 894 Views
That's true. - 07/12/2009 02:50:37 AM 876 Views
But the Song of Soloman is certainly akin to that *NM* - 07/12/2009 02:51:21 AM 305 Views
No, that's just porn. *NM* - 07/12/2009 02:52:24 AM 402 Views
If you redefine fatasy as fiction, the category loses its value - 06/12/2009 12:33:03 PM 871 Views
Remember what I studied for my grad degree - 06/12/2009 04:10:08 PM 895 Views
Re: Remember what I studied for my grad degree - 06/12/2009 04:33:58 PM 919 Views
Really? - 06/12/2009 09:22:21 PM 1025 Views
Re: Really? - 06/12/2009 10:49:36 PM 1024 Views
Literature does not exist in a vacuum - 06/12/2009 10:53:58 PM 666 Views
Obviously I know that - 06/12/2009 11:30:55 PM 843 Views
But it is a material artifact of a culture - 07/12/2009 12:47:45 AM 746 Views
But that is not all it is. - 07/12/2009 08:16:32 AM 953 Views
Indeed. A lot of them are science fiction. - 06/12/2009 04:32:26 PM 861 Views
Re: Indeed. A lot of them are science fiction. - 06/12/2009 05:01:55 PM 765 Views
Several dozen contributed to the suggestion list - 06/12/2009 09:23:21 PM 703 Views
I've read 34. - 06/12/2009 10:53:38 AM 734 Views
78 that I have finished, but that is really not the point. - 06/12/2009 11:55:16 AM 886 Views
Definitions of "fantasy" vary considerably - 06/12/2009 09:25:35 PM 832 Views
According to the one you just applied, my master's thesis was one... - 06/12/2009 10:47:25 PM 746 Views
It's just a state of mind, I suppose - 07/12/2009 12:50:22 AM 853 Views
Re: It's just a state of mind, I suppose - 07/12/2009 08:17:09 AM 875 Views
I've read 28. - 06/12/2009 03:42:40 PM 953 Views
89... but in general, that is many by the same author. - 06/12/2009 06:17:06 PM 731 Views
46. This is an idiotic list. A Confederacy of Dunces just IS NOT fantasy. - 06/12/2009 08:34:07 PM 964 Views
You say that, based on having read maybe 2% of the list? - 06/12/2009 09:27:32 PM 663 Views
Jane Eyre? - 07/12/2009 12:00:36 AM 814 Views
It plays upon the Gothic novel precepts - 07/12/2009 12:51:31 AM 694 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 860 Views
Devise a better? - 07/12/2009 04:34:46 AM 782 Views
It would be much shorter - 07/12/2009 02:20:05 PM 1053 Views
It should be shorter than some of the ones you listed - 08/12/2009 11:26:35 PM 791 Views
Argh. Your quoting skills need work. *NM* - 09/12/2009 08:58:15 AM 408 Views
You seem to be misunderstanding Tom's post. - 09/12/2009 10:57:08 AM 798 Views
No,I was just just commenting on my likes/dislikes of that list - 09/12/2009 01:21:45 PM 937 Views
I think you are misunderstanding again... - 09/12/2009 01:46:49 PM 911 Views
Yes. What Jonte said. *NM* - 09/12/2009 02:41:41 PM 437 Views
Oh,that - 09/12/2009 06:07:11 PM 990 Views
Re: It should be shorter than some of the ones you listed - 21/12/2009 09:35:11 AM 1194 Views
I read it very recently. He masturbates to a dog. Fetishes != fantasy. - 07/12/2009 01:58:57 AM 711 Views
Like I said, it's been years for me - 07/12/2009 02:30:58 AM 912 Views
No worries. That one just got me a little testy. - 07/12/2009 02:48:01 AM 809 Views
I've read about 90 of them - 18/12/2009 03:37:49 PM 1117 Views

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