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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/13/2015 10:28:34 PM

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He has an interesting style. He reiterates quite a bit, and I can see how it might feel like he is treating the reader like a child sometimes. I'll say this though, (as a aspiring writer) I've often found myself stopping to appreciate various aspects of his writing. And he really shines sometimes. I think a discussion on his style would be interesting one day.

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/14/2015 12:46:10 AM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ARIES83

I'll say this though, (as a aspiring writer) I've often found myself stopping to appreciate various aspects of his writing. And he really shines sometimes.

I will agree with you. There were occasional bits that were amazing and well written.

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/15/2015 10:00:45 PM

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My biggest problem with the series is that, somewhere around book 4 someone explained to Dr Lange that, as an author, he was paid by the word....from that point onward, he never said anything in five words which could not be said less clearly in 3,271 words...

Of course, I have always defined myself as Gorean despite the books....BUT.....with that said....if you are truly interested in Gorean Philosophies, your best way to gain understanding them, is by reading the books. They are NOT a fun read, but they are an important read.

John, AKA Dinnardin

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/15/2015 10:42:58 PM

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Sounds like Doctor Lange went the way of Charles Dickens *smile*..............I like his stories but I think he could cut them all by about 60%. I think I have about a half dozen or so of the books of Gor and if anybody wants them and will cover the postage, they are more than welcome to them. Drop me a line and we can discuss it if you want them.

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/15/2015 11:05:09 PM

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Seems like a good - and possibly lucrative - opportunity to write a For Goreans handbook that cuts through the flowery crap and gets down to the principles, rules, and protocols of Gor. That is, unless it's been done...not Gorean, don't know. Free idea. Run with it.

< Message edited by PandoraFoxxx -- 4/15/2015 11:06:14 PM >

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/16/2015 8:36:22 AM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: PandoraFoxxx

Seems like a good - and possibly lucrative - opportunity to write a For Goreans handbook that cuts through the flowery crap and gets down to the principles, rules, and protocols of Gor. That is, unless it's been done...not Gorean, don't know. Free idea. Run with it.

Copyright laws.

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/16/2015 1:34:35 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Spiritedsub2

quote:

ORIGINAL: PandoraFoxxx

Seems like a good - and possibly lucrative - opportunity to write a For Goreans handbook that cuts through the flowery crap and gets down to the principles, rules, and protocols of Gor. That is, unless it's been done...not Gorean, don't know. Free idea. Run with it.

Copyright laws.

And getting two Goreans to agree on anything.

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/16/2015 2:15:25 PM

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ExiledTyrant....

quote:

ORIGINAL: ExiledTyrant
And getting two Goreans to agree on anything.

Actually, there is something all Goreans and even some fake and non-Goreans agree on. If you want to know the truth and facts about things Gorean, RTFB! Read the books. After that....I am not going to argue your point very hard. <grins>

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/16/2015 3:29:45 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Malkinius

ExiledTyrant....

quote:

ORIGINAL: ExiledTyrant
And getting two Goreans to agree on anything.

Actually, there is something all Goreans and even some fake and non-Goreans agree on. If you want to know the truth and facts about things Gorean, RTFB! Read the books. After that....I am not going to argue your point very hard. <grins>

Malkinius of Chicago

LOL!!! I concede your point... touché, good sir, touché!

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/17/2015 1:34:20 AM

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My advice is to read the books in order, in my opinion the most interesting stories come in the first 10 books, after that (in my opinion) it gets repetitive, long-winded, and tedious. I've read the series back to back twice, not for pleasure but as a challenge I set myself. There are snatches of really good story telling, and (albeit very rare) examples of prose that I'd emulate. But by and large, my personal opinion is that the books are, by and large, utter shit.

That said, Nomads and Assassins are pretty good books.

If you're interested in the stories, you might find yourself getting just a little bit bored as the series develops. While Lange's writing improves marginally, his story telling skills decline sharply.

If you're interested in the philosophy, I'd urge you to take a look at a couple of other philosophers - Kant, Bentham and Nietzsche. There is certainly some philosophy in the books, but I'm in pretty strong disagreement with a fair number of Goreans about the actual volume of that philosophy, its validity, and the extent to which it's original vs being clumsily derivative.

[ED for typo]

< Message edited by crazyml -- 4/17/2015 1:36:36 AM >

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/18/2015 9:53:25 AM

slavemichael1970

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quote:

ORIGINAL: crazyml

My advice is to read the books in order, in my opinion the most interesting stories come in the first 10 books, after that (in my opinion) it gets repetitive, long-winded, and tedious. I've read the series back to back twice, not for pleasure but as a challenge I set myself. There are snatches of really good story telling, and (albeit very rare) examples of prose that I'd emulate. But by and large, my personal opinion is that the books are, by and large, utter shit.

That said, Nomads and Assassins are pretty good books.

If you're interested in the stories, you might find yourself getting just a little bit bored as the series develops. While Lange's writing improves marginally, his story telling skills decline sharply.

If you're interested in the philosophy, I'd urge you to take a look at a couple of other philosophers - Kant, Bentham and Nietzsche. There is certainly some philosophy in the books, but I'm in pretty strong disagreement with a fair number of Goreans about the actual volume of that philosophy, its validity, and the extent to which it's original vs being clumsily derivative.

[ED for typo]

I agree you want to read them in order. If you start at the middle you will easily get lost as so many things about Gor are explained early. My favorites were Nomads, Assassins and Fighting Slaves of Gor though I liked to whole swries with the exception of Magicians

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/18/2015 10:24:04 AM

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michael....

You have me curious. Why did you not like Magicians? That is an important and somewhat amusing book and it sets up much of what happens all the way up to book 33.

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/20/2015 7:27:19 AM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheTrickster

I've been interested in them for a while and have heard different things I'm curious are the books any good?

It depends on what you like, but if you like fiction with a good story, and good plot and character development, then probably not.

But if you are in to Fantasy fiction, and power exchange and Masters and slaves, it may be interesting. Since you quoted Poe, I suspect you will find the calibre of writing in Gor wanting.

The first book was not bad, and a fast read. It slowly goes a bit downhill after that. One of the later books, Captive of Gor, is actually the worst written book I have ever mostly read. I could skip 10 or 15 pages at a time and not miss anything of the paper thin "plot".

What I find an interesting exercise is to read the first book of the Gor series, and then read the first book of the Barsoom series and note the plot point by plot point comparisons... Norman even lifted Burroughs' literary device of representing the story as a factual account presented to the author :)

< Message edited by Bhruic -- 4/20/2015 7:42:16 AM >

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/20/2015 1:32:36 PM

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Bhruic....
The coronations between Tarnsman and the Barsoom series are well known. There are quite a few in the first book and they mostly go away after Priest Kings.

Malkinius of Chicago

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/25/2015 8:20:15 AM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Malkinius

Bhruic....
The coronations between Tarnsman and the Barsoom series are well known. There are quite a few in the first book and they mostly go away after Priest Kings.

Malkinius of Chicago

Correlations? Yes... but not to the OP, who clearly hasn't read them.

< Message edited by Bhruic -- 4/25/2015 8:24:03 AM >

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/27/2015 8:32:29 AM

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I often felt like Norman drew is racial constructs from some of the National Geographic magazine issues. I would recognize the same traits I read about from articles in National Geographic magazine only Norman planted them on the plains of Gor or in icy north with a new name.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Malkinius

michael....

You have me curious. Why did you not like Magicians? That is an important and somewhat amusing book and it sets up much of what happens all the way up to book 33.

Malkinius of Chicago

I confess, I'm a slacker and haven't read the 8 books published after his 14 year long hiatus after Magicians of Gor. Are those latest books about the same, better, worse? Do they pick up right after Magicians because Witness of Gor was already half written when he started publishing again?

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/29/2015 4:52:17 PM

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Greetings Thread.
Are the Gorean Books any good ?
I would say to this question that you would first have to decide
for what purpose you choose to read the books. Is it simply for
the pleasure of reading? Is it to see a world of fantasy to some
and reality to others? Is it to study and make comment on the
structure and content of the Author? What and how are you
defining *Good* in your question. I would give the series the
same value as a lifestyle structure for real life application much in
the order I would say the same for the Bible or the Koran. We
All make choices as adults in how we choose to live our life. This
is just one of many to follow.
As a writer, He was what HE wanted to be in as far as writing
as its clear in all his other writings not Gor related he carried
his * style* through out in his presentations. It has strong and
good characters throughout and in the right hands be a good
soap opera if not for the copyright laws in place. I'm sure when
they run out there will be an industrious person who will make
it so. Ive learned to enjoy the series. Call me sentimental but
ever so often I will want to read up on a certain situation or
personality and return to my books again and again and re-read
them. I have many, many sets of all the series and have on occasion
sold them as a whole set ( I do not break up sets so please do not ask
me to. I have set my goals over the past 30 years to attain as many
1st editions as I could in building the sets.) I enjoyed reading the
responses to this simple question.
Same MistressDREAD

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 4/29/2015 8:24:51 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheTrickster

I've been interested in them for a while and have heard different things I'm curious are the books any good?

This depends on your perspective of what is good, what you enjoy. For example. In the first book, the one that introduces us to Gor, "girl" and slave and caste are used in concept and word more than most others. So, one could say Norman decided to either write about girls and slaves and a caste society, full of girls and slaves, or he decided that was the best way to explain his theory of how one should best utilize their time here on the real earth. Being a BDSM Dom, I like it. I think he has a stash of floggers in his basement and a few girls to use them on.

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 5/22/2015 9:51:04 AM

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While the author used these books to present a philosophy, he is not the only one that has presented this philosophy. It is not original. Thus, you might already be "Gorean" without reading a single book. To the author "Gorean" is not what you are, it is instead his name for a fictional people on a fictional planet in fictional books and he uses this stage to present his take on master morality. Never does the author use the phrase "Gorean philosophy" in these books so the use of the term "Gorean" in real life is used by some to set themselves apart from others who naturally use their will to power and need no such label and need no Gorean books to be who they are. You either are "Gorean" and need no books or you read the books and use them to convince yourself and others that you are a master of your life, a person not enslaved by the morality of everyone equal, the morality of good intentions rather than that of good results, the morality of higher evolution rather than devolution.

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RE: Are the Gorean Books any good? - 6/27/2015 10:58:58 PM

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Are the Gor books any good?

Well... that depends on what the definition of 'any' is!

Seriously... the plotlines are derivative, the prose execrable, the repetitions unedurable, the descriptions tedius, the concept of the world, unique, the explication of the tension between alien species, intense, the weltanshauung eerily satisfyig. It's hard to cheer while puking... but I manage. And yes, I *have* read ALL thirty three of the tacky things!

Gor is a guilty pleasure. Gor is addictive to the wrong... er... I mean right people and it makes a MOCKERY of both Science Fiction and BDSM! Bah, who am I kidding? It makes a mockery of its fans and we... *cough* I mean THEY love it!

Lifestylers would put the duck dynasty folks to shame. Roleplayers, such as Myself (Ye GODS, did I just admit to that?!) are riven with strife between BTB (By The Books) and GE (Gor Evolved) and will nitpick points to a bloody scab! HOW do I, a flaming Female Supremacist, BEAR the feculent scribblings of such and odious toad as John Lange? Simple... I roleplay as a male!

Sweet Cream Of Jesus on Toast Points SOMEONE get that damned man an EDITOR! I'd do it myself, but I don't TRUST Me within 100 kilometres of the man with aNYTHING sharper than a Rapidograph!! I LOVE the son-of-a-bitch!

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