Why are some drawn to fiction stories and others repelled by them?

[The_Patriot21]

2 hours ago, Sower said:

Same here. Unless I missed one, I have all of the Louis L'Amour western pocket books. Good guy versus bad guy. Good guy wins. But it's more than that, it shows the struggles the challenges the endurance the Pioneers went through opening up the West. I also enjoy nonfiction, about our founding fathers, Statesman, and those who brought our country to be what it is. And I got plenty of whodunits also...

ive read a lot of louis lamour books, solid author though my Grandpa was the true fan. Im pretty sure he read every one of them at least twice lol. Another western author i like is William Johnstone.

Right now though probably my favorite author is C.J. Box. He has a fictonal mystery/adventure series following a Wyoming Game warden by the name of Joe Pickett and his friend Nate Romanowski, and he never fails to provide an intriguing story.

Of course it helps that not only does the storys take place in Wyoming, but theyre more believeable because the author also lives in Wyoming. Of course I could just be biased because I also live in Wyoming lol.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, The_Patriot21 said:

ive read a lot of louis lamour books, solid author though my Grandpa was the true fan. Im pretty sure he read every one of them at least twice lol. Another western author i like is William Johnstone.

Right now though probably my favorite author is C.J. Box. He has a fictonal mystery/adventure series following a Wyoming Game warden by the name of Joe Pickett and his friend Nate Romanowski, and he never fails to provide an intriguing story.

Of course it helps that not only does the storys take place in Wyoming, but theyre more believeable because the author also lives in Wyoming. Of course I could just be biased because I also live in Wyoming lol.

Somebody else who likes CJ Box's novels.  That's fantastic.

[The_Patriot21]

1 hour ago, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

Somebody else who likes CJ Box's novels.  That's fantastic.

I love him, at least his joe picket series. I dont mind his detective series...but i dont like them as much.

[teddyv]

4 hours ago, The_Patriot21 said:

Potter, is all about the glorification of magic.

Really? Well, I'll disagree with you there. I've read them several times and they are replete with deep Christian themes. The last movie just ruined the ending which was, in the book, contained an amazing bit of dialogue between Harry and Voldemort.

I will agree that LOTR is awesome though.

[The_Patriot21]

1 hour ago, teddyv said:

Really? Well, I'll disagree with you there. I've read them several times and they are replete with deep Christian themes. The last movie just ruined the ending which was, in the book, contained an amazing bit of dialogue between Harry and Voldemort.

I will agree that LOTR is awesome though.

Theres no christian themes in Harry potter. At least not intentional, and it is about glorifying magic and obtaining it. 

Now, dont get me wrong im not going to think any less of anyone who likes the books. I used to, but now, i realize its just more fiction. 

There are some connections, Tolkiem was a devout Christian and Rowley claims the christian faith as well and id guess by her actions that she is sincere in it, and neither have ever made the claim their books were intended to be allegories or had any kind of religious connections. In Fact Tolkien went out of his way to specifically state that the LOTRs was intended for entertainment purposes only. 

Certainly one can find some christian connections, but none was put in there intentionally. My reading of Harry potter leads me to the same conclusion.

Their mission is different, LOTRs seems focused on the end of magic, indeed in the return of thr king it goes away, Harry potter is a about learning more about it and obtaining more power, which is where i draw the line and why I dont like it. Its where my convictions are.

However we all have different convictions for different reasons. If you enjoy the books and arnt convicted about reading them I certainly wont tell you not to nor think any less of you.

[teddyv]

17 minutes ago, The_Patriot21 said:

Theres no christian themes in Harry potter. At least not intentional, and it is about glorifying magic and obtaining it. 

Now, dont get me wrong im not going to think any less of anyone who likes the books. I used to, but now, i realize its just more fiction. 

There are some connections, Tolkiem was a devout Christian and Rowley claims the christian faith as well and id guess by her actions that she is sincere in it, and neither have ever made the claim their books were intended to be allegories or had any kind of religious connections. In Fact Tolkien went out of his way to specifically state that the LOTRs was intended for entertainment purposes only. 

Certainly one can find some christian connections, but none was put in there intentionally. My reading of Harry potter leads me to the same conclusion.

Their mission is different, LOTRs seems focused on the end of magic, indeed in the return of thr king it goes away, Harry potter is a about learning more about it and obtaining more power, which is where i draw the line and why I dont like it. Its where my convictions are.

However we all have different convictions for different reasons. If you enjoy the books and arnt convicted about reading them I certainly wont tell you not to nor think any less of you.

Interesting, and I don't want to belabor the point, but there are direct quotes from Rowling that indicate she was pretty intentional in the application of certain Christian themes. No, it's not an allegory. I also do not see "glorification of magic" in the story at all. 

[The_Patriot21]

8 hours ago, teddyv said:

Interesting, and I don't want to belabor the point, but there are direct quotes from Rowling that indicate she was pretty intentional in the application of certain Christian themes. No, it's not an allegory. I also do not see "glorification of magic" in the story at all. 

Well ive only read the first book, and if she put in Christian themes, i dont think she did a very good job....as i really didnt see any. Of course, i think C.S. Lewis did a horrible job of inserting christian themes and allegories in his chronicles of narnia, and that was his intent to do so. Which is odd because his non fiction stuff is pretty solid.

And any themes she may have written into the books the movies pretty much eliminated lol.

And i mean...hogwarts...is a school that teaches magic. Harry potter is there to learn magic and obtain power. Its prettu much the definition of glorifying magic.

Again though i recognize its fiction...its made up. As long as one can differentiate fiction from real life, which I know you can, then thats all it is, a fictional tale. Its not for me...but if you like it who am I to say its not for you?

[teddyv]

1 minute ago, The_Patriot21 said:

Well ive only read the first book, and if she put in Christian themes, i dont think she did a very good job....as i really didnt see any. Of course, i think C.S. Lewis did a horrible job of inserting christian themes and allegories in his chronicles of narnia, and that was his intent to do so. Which is odd because his non fiction stuff is pretty solid.

And any themes she may have written into the books the movies pretty much eliminated lol.

And i mean...hogwarts...is a school that teaches magic. Harry potter is there to learn magic and obtain power. Its prettu much the definition of glorifying magic.

Again though i recognize its fiction...its made up. As long as one can differentiate fiction from real life, which I know you can, then thats all it is, a fictional tale. Its not for me...but if you like it who am I to say its not for you?

Ahh. Yes the first book is not so much. By the last one though, it's pretty obvious.

She did say that she did not to be super obvious about it as that could telegraph the story to the readers.

[The_Patriot21]

6 hours ago, teddyv said:

Ahh. Yes the first book is not so much. By the last one though, it's pretty obvious.

She did say that she did not to be super obvious about it as that could telegraph the story to the readers.

In any case it just wasnt my cup of tea. 

[Mama Etna]

I am going to take a dive into this thread.  I write fiction.  It is my way of coping with an overactive mind.  The genre and fantasy adventure and it is replete with Christian themes of redemption and Christian moral themes.

 

We are created in the Image of God and part of being created in the Image of God is our ability to create.  Part of that creativity is the ability to make art objects and to write stories.