Re: Reading Request.

On Thu, 28 Mar 2002, Allan Goodall wrote:

> On Fri, 29 Mar 2002 08:43:32 +1100, Derek Fulton
<derekfulton@bigpond.com>
> wrote:
> 
> >I have to admit his later books lack something, especially since he
wiped 
> >out the American government to make Jack Ryan king of the world, may
he 
> >should learn to put his characters out to pasture :)
> 
> I have a friend who's a librarian (head librarian of a Toronto branch,
and
> also sci-fi, fantasy, and horror acquisition head for Toronto). She
tells me
> that the inside scoop is that he's sufficiently popular that he can
get almost
> anything he demands. This is pretty typical at the Clancy/Stephen
King/etc.
> level. Apparently he doesn't feel he needs a full editor, pretty much
just
> needs someone to proof it for glaring mistakes. This has led to a
bloating of
> his stories.

Quite a while ago, Mad magazine had a "Celebrity Contract Clauses We'd
Like to See" feature. Mostly sports figures, but Clancy was in there
too.

I especially liked "300 pages shall be removed at random from Mr.
Clancy's
next work, and only re-instated if anyone actually notices."

There were also clauses about spending as much ink on actual human
beings
as on weapon systems, and a couple of others. Very well done.

I haven't even gone near his latest Russia-vs-China silliness.

> His female characters really bother me. He hasn't written one that
isn't a
> "straw man" (to use the literary term; not being sexist) or a spear
carrier.

Clancy and Heinlein write exactly the same sort of female characters,
have
you noticed? (Strawperson, surely?) The type can broadly be defined as
"overachieving until hubby comes home"...

Brian - yh728@victoria.tc.ca -