The Words of The Creator
Don HARLOW
channel. As you can see, very little that's new. For more interesting
stuff, see Pam Korda's recent posting, heh-heh.
---
Interview with Robert Jordan on the Sci-Fi Channel, evening, 23 April
1995. I = Interviewer, RJ = The Creator. Some minor stammers omitted.
I: ... Robert Jordan is one of the most popular story-tellers today. His
multi-volume books _The Wheel of Time_ have created a phenomenon with
over two million copies in print. Not only is Jordan one of the most
read and talked-about authors today but he is one of the hotter topics
on the internet computer network.
I: What do fans tell you they like so much about your writing?
RJ: It's a different thing for every person.
I: Really?
RJ: Yes.
I: What do the women like?
RJ: The women like the women. I was told by a number of women who came
to a signing several years ago that they were surprised to find out
that I was a man. They thought no man could write women like that. And
I like this because my editor used to say that I couldn't write women
at all. I find this a very sweet revenge.
I: Jordan, a veteran of the Vietnam war, has definitely connected with
his audience, both male and female. And he has some definite thoughts
as to why fantasy literature is so popular.
RJ: Two things, really, I think. One, you can talk about good and evil,
right and wrong, and nobody tells you that you're being judgemental.
And the other thing is, in fantasy there's always the belief that you
can overcome whatever obstacles there are, that you _can_ make
tomorrow better. And not only that you _can_, but that you _will_, if
you work at it.
I: Do you remember when you conceived _The Wheel of Time_ series?
RJ: The first thought that came to me was what would it be like, what
would it really be like, to be tapped on the shoulder and told you
were born to be the saviour of mankind. And I then very quickly
thought, what would happen if the saviour of mankind really showed up
and he was really there to save the world from impending doom, what
would the real response of the world be? And after ten or twelve years
of knocking around in my head, because I always give my books a long
lead time, that turned into _The Wheel of Time_.
I: Jordan's books have been called a combination of Robin Hood and
Stephen King. He manages to create characters that seem real, perhaps
because he uses many of his own personal experiences in the telling of
these epic stories.
I: Do you ever use your experiences in Vietnam in your stories?
RJ: Yes, indirectly. I know what it's like to have somebody trying to
kill you. I know what it's like to try to kill somebody. And I know
what it's like to actually kill somebody. These things I think help
with writing about people being in danger, [or] especially if it's in
danger of violence ... which happens occasionally in my books.
I: Meanwhile Jordan continues to work on the next volume of _The Wheel
of Time_ series with no idea when he'll finally wrap the whole thing
up.
RJ: I know where I'm going.
I: You do?
RJ: I know where I'm going. I know the last scene of the last book. I
could write it now. I could have written it before I started this
series. I know how all of the major story lines are going to resolve.
I just have to get there. And I'm not sure how many books it's going
to take. There are going to be several more books. There are going to
be some more books. There are going to be a few more books. But not
too many.
I: No telling how many volumes _The Wheel of Time_ will eventually get.
But with Robert Jordan as the author, you can bet that we're in for
some very interesting reading.
--
Don HARLOW do...@netcom.com
Esperanto League for N.A. el...@netcom.com (800) 828-5944
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/el/elna/elna.html Esperanto
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/do/donh/donh.html
Don HARLOW
>In article <donhD7K...@netcom.com>, do...@netcom.com (Don HARLOW) wrote:
>
>> RJ: The women like the women. I was told by a number of women who came
>> to a signing several years ago that they were surprised to find out
>> that I was a man. They thought no man could write women like that. And
>> I like this because my editor used to say that I couldn't write women
>> at all. I find this a very sweet revenge.
>
>of the peeving on this group about the lack of communication between
>men and women in WoT, or asked him about it?
My own conclusion -- and I think it shared by others who have been around
for a long time -- is that the lack of communication between men and
women in tWoT is intentional, and an integral part of the plot. Who
knows, restoration of that communication may be a major part of the
solution to the problems posed by the Dark One, the Taint, &c. Whatever,
I feel sure that Jordan is well aware of the problem.
Teri Pettit
Bjorn Christianson
> Herewith a sort of transscription of RJ's interview on the sci-fi
> channel. As you can see, very little that's new. For more interesting
> stuff, see Pam Korda's recent posting, heh-heh.
[snip]
Gawd, the Interviewer didn't actually talk like that, did he? I _hate_
noon-hour talk show host types. Though you have to admire them. Not many
people can combine arrogance, condescension, and fawning boot-licking into
a single sentence.
/*Rant mode off*/
Bjorn "what do you think, should I keep the" bork-bork-bork
Aaron Bergman
:My own conclusion -- and I think it shared by others who have been around
:for a long time -- is that the lack of communication between men and
:women in tWoT is intentional, and an integral part of the plot. Who
:knows, restoration of that communication may be a major part of the
:solution to the problems posed by the Dark One, the Taint, &c. Whatever,
:I feel sure that Jordan is well aware of the problem.
More than just that, he's stated it as being one of the major themes of
the series. That's why the dots are there in the Yin Yang.
Aaron
--
Aaron Bergman -- The Number Two Poster on RASFWR-J.
Check out my homepage:
<http://minerva.cis.yale.edu/~abergman/abergman.html>
Jordan specific: <http://minerva.cis.yale.edu/~abergman/jordan.html>
Teri Pettit
> pet...@adobe.com (Teri Pettit) skribis en lastatempa afisxo
<pettit-2504...@macb306.mv.us.adobe.com>:
> My own conclusion -- and I think it shared by others who have been around
> for a long time -- is that the lack of communication between men and
> women in tWoT is intentional, and an integral part of the plot. Who
> knows, restoration of that communication may be a major part of the
> solution to the problems posed by the Dark One, the Taint, &c. Whatever,
> I feel sure that Jordan is well aware of the problem.
>
Of course it's intentional and an integral part of the plot.
My peeve is that it isn't psychologically REALISTIC, so the
book suffers from having a phenomenon that you can't believe
in be integral to the plot. The One Power and Dark One and
all that mystical stuff you can suspend your disbelief about
because it's a fantasy story. But you still expect psychological
realism. It bugs me that the story hinges on people acting like
people don't act (or more accurately, every person in Randland
acting like just some people act in the real world.) I'm sure
Jordan is aware that all the men and women in his world have
problems communicating, and that he means for them to. I'm not
sure he's aware that a lot of readers can't buy that it could be
that way and still be a world populated with real people.
Wikedpinto
>My peeve is that it isn't psychologically REALISTIC, so the
>book suffers from having a phenomenon that you can't believe
>in be integral to the plot. The One Power and Dark One and
>all that mystical stuff you can suspend your disbelief about
>because it's a fantasy story. But you still expect psychological
>realism. It bugs me that the story hinges on people acting like
>people don't act (or more accurately, every person in Randland
>acting like just some people act in the real world.) I'm sure
>Jordan is aware that all the men and women in his world have
>problems communicating, and that he means for them to. I'm not
>sure he's aware that a lot of readers can't buy that it could be
>that way and still be a world populated with real people.
It is an exageration of events, true, but when you look at the history
of men and women in Jordans world, you see that there are foundations for
the Adversarial relationships between men and women. . .
It all started at the end of the war for power, when the
"counterstroke" tainted saidin and the men started losing their sanity. .
.The men began breaking the world and that is a significance that did not
go unnoticed.
over three thousand years the memory of Male AS breaking the world
is remembered but the idea has become skewed, the men aren't remembered
for any of the good things that they did, or that it is of no fault of
their own that they had to face this dillema.
Take into account that the White Tower, free of men and developing
rituals to prove that they have no male members. . .and the fact that
these Rituals and beliefs date back to the age of legends, you get 3
thousand years of the most powerful figureheads in the world, the AS,
bashing men that channel.
What then happens is everyone related, begins to take the same
attitude, and since not everyone has a Male Channeler to bash this
repressed anger is then released on the men. . . with commoners seeing the
AS and the leaders of the world taking oppossition to men, and seeing how
they are treated, it is natural for every caste of society to take on the
same traits.
The women have been living with a clean slate. . .Whenever a bad
memory comes up, one of Cataclysmic value, they had a man to point at. .
.while the men are born with and Original Sin. . .they ALL have to live
with the fact that if they are unlucky enough to channel they are doomed,
they will be hunted down, and gentled. The women are free of this worry.
A little from the the Annals of Dougs Noggin
Doug.