Re: Conan the Librarian

[pawan <pawan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Jun 01, 2000 at 09:12:27AM +0530, Udhay Shankar N wrote:
> Well, if you're talking *Conan*, he first appeared in the books by Robert L 
> Forward, and then later by Robert Jordan (of "Wheel of Time" fame). Marvel 
> Comics and Hollywood discovered him much later.

Robert E Howard, a writer who wrote in the 1920's and 30's I think.
He wrote for the pulp magazines, but his prose is exceptionally high
quality, and is the best of its kind IMHO. So much so that I much prefer
his material to that of the later writers like Robert Jordan. Sadly, there
is not that much material by Howard around.

I was especially disappointed by the first Conan movie. It had great cinematography,
but ... Howard's Conan had far more vitality and often overcame all his mortal
opponents by by energetically hacking his way through them, which is why he was
so often pitted against the supernatural. The Conan of the movie OTOH was too
stylish and kept getting his arse kicked around too much. The second Conan movie
was a bit of an improvement in that respect, but was a rather mundane heroes-in-a-
barbarian-age sort of tale. All far too pale compared with the blazing ferocity
of the books.

xxx
PJ