Reblog: A Canon of Fantasy Literature (An Impossiblog)

It’s the lazy days of summer, and I find that I am getting, well, lazy.

I got bogged down a bit and just couldn’t get a post up last week. This week I could have rushed something and put up a post that really wasn’t up to snuff, but instead I have chosen to borrow some words that are much better than mine would have been today!

Over at the ever-fascinating Pilgrim in Narnia blog, Brenton Dickieson put up this post a couple of days ago, and I’m sharing it with you today. It is both an interesting post on what “should” go on a canon of fantasy literature (in other words, the best/most influential works of the genre) and as well a good place to start if you are looking for some summer reading, as he includes a few different lists.

So, enjoy! And as a bonus, here’s a link to a follow-up post of his, in which he discusses how a canon of literature is basically the “cultural capital” of a civilization, and so, if the culture and values of a society change, should we just throw out the old canon and promote a new one, more “in tune” with our culture?

Fascinating discussion.

Next week I’m heading off on holidays for a couple of weeks, but I’m working on some posts ahead of time, so never fear, dear readers, we will be wandering along The Traveller’s Path without too many detours once again!

(In case you are wondering, my feature picture this week is from the walk I took with my dog last week, which is one of the things I did instead of working on the blog.)