tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post2732093325511208040..comments2024-03-25T10:22:04.995-07:00Comments on Ed Gorman's blog: Robert E. HowardEd Gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06126267358266480356noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-26305812202455991992010-03-05T13:50:27.442-08:002010-03-05T13:50:27.442-08:00I believe that one of the major detriments to REH&...I believe that one of the major detriments to REH's legacy as a serious writer has been the mass marketing of Conan. The same quagmire was fallen into by Burroughs with Tarzan. Ask anyone who Tarzan is and they will either A: give you the jungle yell, or B: grunt, thump their chest and say "Jane." They've seen the films, They know the character. Wrong! Tarzan of the novels was a far cry from what films and television turned him into. The original thick, strong coffee of his brewing was watered down to such an extent for the mindless masses that no opacity remained of the original first cup.<br />This sadly has been done too with Conan. I venture that most impressions of the character by the unwashed masses would be of the senseless barbarian. That is the easy way out of an intelligent reply. Read the original stories, absorb the concept direct from his creator and you will find out firsthand the complexities of Conan's character.TOM ROBERTShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04170836873862512602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-23964125716672048332010-02-23T08:26:50.859-08:002010-02-23T08:26:50.859-08:00James is quite right in noting that Howard's C...James is quite right in noting that Howard's Conan was nearly equal parts cunning and mayhem. And Howard's stories contain more pathos, mysticism, and introspection than one might expect if the reader knows "Conan" simply from the godawful pastiches and the boneheaded Milius movie. The critics have always taken Howard to task for the full-throttle violence of the stories, even the critics who were inclined to cut him some slack in other respects. However, I'd argue that the Howard was simply ahead of the curve that pop culture as a whole would take after the '60s with the visceral bloodletting of the samurai movies, Peckinpah, Hannibal Lecter, and "300."Fred Blosserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07307848103704970189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36271824.post-8423868989882236582010-02-22T15:08:38.961-08:002010-02-22T15:08:38.961-08:00Ed, when I was a kid finding any Robert E. Howard ...Ed, when I was a kid finding any Robert E. Howard book was hard. I'd scour the used bookstores for them, and the ones I found were my most prized treasures.Dave Zeltsermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04007736514118297783noreply@blogger.com