#modern epic

[theblackestofsuns]

Modern Epic (1994)

Franco Moretti

Verso

[probinism]

A Little Life Review: The Brilliant but Brutal Novel That Divides Readers

Published in 2015 by Doubleday in the United States and Picador in the United Kingdom, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara quickly became one of the most discussed works of contemporary literary fiction. At over 700 pages, this monumental novel is both a deeply intimate character study and a searing depiction of trauma, friendship, and the fragile boundaries of human endurance. In the years since…

A Little Life Review: The Brilliant but Brutal Novel That Divides Readers

[lilyflanders]

i just watched skibidi toilet ? holy shit ? it's beautiful ?

[zelihatrifles]

Victory City

The latest Salman Rushdie, and the more potent when you know that his life has been made an attempt on already, and that he survives like the fighter he is. In this epic novel, because it's more epic than novel actually, he writes of the rise and downfall of a whole empire. You may even say, garnering similarities with his narrative, okay, Pampa Kampana's narrative, and with the nonsensical atrocities that are happening today, that his voice has prophetic overtones. Because:

'Anyway,' she wrote, it's good to learn that over there is not so very unlike over here, and that human intelligence and human stupidity, as well as human nature, the best and worst of it, are the greatest constants of the changing world.'

And right she is. Not only over there and over here, but also then and now. Then, the Remonstrance was fighting to get back old familiar names of streets because the rulers were changing their names to make them starkly religious, and i hardly need to point out why i mention this. Rushdie's epic prose takes you right back to this divine muse-inspired Pampa Kampana and her magical abilities which she revered as well as was weary of. You travel a long way but you don't get a prediction as to how our civilisation would really end, because, as Rushdie states:

Words are the only victors.

[lostcauses-noregrets]

#AOTModernEpic on Funimation

[manonthestone-blog]

EXCERPT FROM NANOWRIMO PROJECT “A Tale Written in Lines of Gold”

Cyrus took chalk off of the altar and wandered

Through the pews to the larger empty section

At the back, Just large enough for Cyrus to take his

Chalk and draw a new dueling circle twenty feet in

Diameter. He stepped in and drew his guns, a revolver

And a regular 12-bullet pistol. Jude stepped in and

Drew his two ivory-handled knives. Cassandra

Took a look at the two men and knelt down on the floor,

And Phoenix turned around and took his long, thin

Straight Katana “Valiance” and his Desert Eagle

Called “Zeus” and went and knelt on the circle

Opposite to where Cassandra knelt. He counted

Down from three aloud; and form then the duel

Was begun and the deal with death was struck.

Each and every time Jude struck out with his knives

Cyrus would block it with the barrel of his gun.

Meanwhile Cyrus continued to try and kick out

With his legs as he blocked knife blows, and he didn’t

Shoot for four hours. A Revolver with six shots and a

Pistol with twelve; nonetheless their duel continued

Throughout the night and even into the next,

Even so much as until it had continued

For twenty and four hours time. Cassandra

Knelt and prayed for most of this time, stopping

Only when Phoenix brought her food to eat (which he

Did out of duty, yes, but it was easier

To perform acts of such kindness when the recipient

Was equal parts grateful, kind, and beautiful)

And the two of them watched, with Everett

Growing dejected that his vengeance was not

Fully satisfied by a complete, zero-vs-100 victory

That he had fantasised about.

It was in this twenty-fourth hour that Cassandra

Spotted the cheating from both sides; the small steps out

Of the sacred circle, the poison on the tip of

Jude’s blade; the secondary knives Cyrus was using.

She leaned over to whisper to Phoenix and he leaned in,

Nodding to himself. Then he pulled out Zeus and cocked

Back its hammer, pulling Valiance out of its sheath and

Giving it to Cassandra. She waiting, breathing shallow

While Phoenix took deep breaths in preparation.

Both jumped into the circle, in between the two

Duelers. Cassandra fought off and disarmed Jude of

His knives without even a second’s hesitation; Phoenix

Only had to grab Cyrus by his collar and point Zeus straight

Into his eyes.

[twelvemonkeyswere]

do you guys have any good sources on the topics of “modern epic” and “modern epic fantasy”? I need this for reasons