On the subject of Ornstead: He's great 90% of the time. His Eva Revolution fic, at least the first 2/3 of it, is one of the funniest and most entertaining stories I've read. This is true only as long as I can keep viewing it as a parody.
Unfortunately, in the other 10%, his work stops being a story and becomes an essay. It is not uncommon for a writer's beliefs and opinions to come through in his work, but in these instances the story just stops dead for a socio-political editorial or a disertation on the psycology of a character.
That the opinions put forth in these op-ed sections usualy seem kind of screwy to me doesn't help, but what sinks things is the preaching-rant way he writes the section and the way it breaks the flow of the story.
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No, I don't believe the world has gone mad. In order for it to go mad it would need to have been sane at some point.
Unfortunately, in the other 10%, his work stops being a story and becomes an essay. It is not uncommon for a writer's beliefs and opinions to come through in his work, but in these instances the story just stops dead for a socio-political editorial or a disertation on the psycology of a character.
That the opinions put forth in these op-ed sections usualy seem kind of screwy to me doesn't help, but what sinks things is the preaching-rant way he writes the section and the way it breaks the flow of the story.
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No, I don't believe the world has gone mad. In order for it to go mad it would need to have been sane at some point.