Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
All I'm saying, Dennis, is that I personally enjoyed "Battlefield Earth", and it's a book that I still occasionally re-read. The movie that was made from it, on the other hand, was utter garbage.
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That's fine. I was less enthused than you are, but we all have different itches particular kinds of books scratch.
As a general rule, I don't think one can apply the same standards to all books. You have to ask yourself "What kind of book was the author trying to write?", and judge how well the author succeeded. I don't apply the same sort of standards to pulp SF, for example, as I do to something considered literary.
And Hubbard raises the issue of separating that author of pulp SF and fantasy from the one who created what became Scientology. Feelings about the latter can negatively influence opinions of the former.
Like I said, I Think he was a good pulp writer. He was capable of writing brisk and enjoyable adventures, though his quality was uneven. I think he might have
become a "damned good SF writer", had he chosen to develop his craft and try to transcend his pulp roots, instead of looking for a get rich quick scheme and finding one.
And yes, the movie was utter garbage, which got made because John Travolta wanted to do it. He
believes in Hubbard and Scientology, and it was a labor of love. It also shot his career in the foot. He's a fine actor, but Battlefield Earth made him hard to take seriously, and his output after that film was wildly uneven because of that. He stopped being a "bankable star", and started being viewed as a risk by producers casting films.
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Dennis