tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post8752448778866523835..comments2024-03-29T07:58:31.156-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Pulp Fantasy Library: Rogues in the HouseJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40339791842163085472021-03-17T13:05:04.644-04:002021-03-17T13:05:04.644-04:00There is barbarism that is cruelty, I.e., evil, wh...There is barbarism that is cruelty, I.e., evil, which is what you’re talking about, and there is the “noble savage,” barbarism. I think Howard walked a line between these in his Conan stories, sometimes verging into one sometimes into the other. I think this is why I find Conan both repelling and alluring. I can’t appreciate or condone injustice and murder, but I love Conan’s independence, grit, connection to the wilderness, courage, and so on. I’m actually writing a book on this subject. “Lovable Rogue? My Love/Hate Relationship with Robert E. Howard’s Conan.” Maybe someday I’ll finish it. THOMAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11813124910386890089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-50434278822005871542021-03-17T12:04:06.930-04:002021-03-17T12:04:06.930-04:00I feel like you might be missing a key element abo...I feel like you might be missing a key element about Conan the Barbarian and why we say brutal and horrific acts are "Barbaric". Conan is honest about being a Barbarian. He is what he says on the tin. That doesn't make him a good person to civilized folk, in fact it quite bluntly states the opposite.Zzarchovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07714805545939725730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-80218879270867140442021-03-16T20:38:33.436-04:002021-03-16T20:38:33.436-04:00Conan chose to kill a guy on a hunch. I’m unsure w...Conan chose to kill a guy on a hunch. I’m unsure whether that is 1st or 2nd degree murder. No trial, no evidence. Just a one man judge, jury, and executioner who rushed to judgment without really knowing. It’s wrong in many levels and is massive injustice. Conan’s a criminal, and it’s laughable to tout his honesty as though it were a virtue given the gravity of his crime. Straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. THOMAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11813124910386890089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-79295990512898127222021-03-15T23:07:09.408-04:002021-03-15T23:07:09.408-04:00Near perfect in media res. Howard's strongest ...Near perfect in media res. Howard's strongest thrust with his word craft.Jay Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00069789456292604679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-86910370994253587022021-03-15T14:02:34.520-04:002021-03-15T14:02:34.520-04:00Just recently read this when I got a complete REH ...Just recently read this when I got a complete REH collection for my Kindle for 49p, brilliant stuff and instantly transported back to being 13 again when I first read it.Andromhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11676842057897482010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-76988159188630170682021-03-15T12:04:40.557-04:002021-03-15T12:04:40.557-04:00Easily one of my favorite Conan tales. And the Ap...Easily one of my favorite Conan tales. And the Ape in a Red Cape has become a recurring trope in D&D games in our circle.Jason Langloishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02507550527211520786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-3148702552832818542021-03-15T10:31:43.054-04:002021-03-15T10:31:43.054-04:00Weird take. The girl he throws in a cesspool (not...Weird take. The girl he throws in a cesspool (not a sewer) didn't just "dump him" she sold him to the police and got him put in jail awaiting execution - and he still didn't kill her despite her clearly expecting him to. The "guy" was leaving the same girl's room, and while we don't get a look in Conan's head, it's not unreasonable for him to have believed that he was involved with her playing informant and to have benefited from that - if in no way other than to get access to the ex, who he'd just finished sexing it up with. Either one's probably grounds for death by Cimmerian values.<br /><br />You can call Conan cruel, violent, and hot-headed, by I'm not seeing anything that makes him a hypocrite here.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-25766443636527376732021-03-15T09:49:32.724-04:002021-03-15T09:49:32.724-04:00Things I liked about this one: the intrigue, thoug...Things I liked about this one: the intrigue, thoughts about the hypocrisy of civilization, “Thak,” the iconic “Frazetta” scene. <br />Things I didn’t like: Conan murders a guy at the beginning and tosses a girl who dumped him into a sewer. It makes me go: so what if he “keeps his word?” Hypocrisy isn’t a problem for just civilized people. THOMAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11813124910386890089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-59209648168041253142021-03-15T08:18:38.377-04:002021-03-15T08:18:38.377-04:00One of my personal favorites from the Conan canon....One of my personal favorites from the Conan canon. Is it really that obscure to non-fans? I'm not a good judge of that, having started reading Howard back in grade school so his work's basically always been part of my life. It's been adapted to comics several times over the years, and it seems to me like many folks over 30 or so first encountered REH through that medium (or perhaps Arnold's films) and went on to the books.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.com