Star Wars. Lord of the Rings. Little House on the Praire. They all have something in common. Something I love and can’t get enough of. They are all part of a SAGA. Does the word strike fear in your heart or send you running to the bookstore for the latest and greatest?
The dictionary defines "saga" as a long story of heroic achievement. I’d like to take a look at each of the above sagas (and maybe a few more sprinkled in) and talk about why we love (or hate) them. This type of story really does tend to elicit a strong emotion one way or another. And yes, I realize Star Wars began as a movie, but we’re talking about a story experience, not merely in book form only.
I have a friend who rarely reads fiction and when she does, it’s usually something light and short. She just doesn’t enjoy delving deep into the lives of characters for an extended period of time. And a saga will require some time. It goes with the territory. If the characters are likeable, I want to spend as much time as I can with them, but the author has to keep things moving along. No two-page descriptions of a single flower, please!
Usually, when written in book form, a saga will be published in multiple volumes. While I like to stay up with current literary releases, if it’s a continuing saga, I prefer to wait until the end has been published before I invest myself. I don’t want to forget any details from the early books when I read the later volumes.
A few years ago, I read a children’s series by Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I made the mistake of beginning the series when only four of the books had been released. My kids and I burned through every available word published and then were forced to wait almost six months for the conclusion. Adding insult to injury, my children wrested the book from my hands the instant we purchased it and I was forced to wait for THREE of them to read it before me. Well, let’s be honest, I actually forbade the third kid to take the book to school with him so I could at least have it during the day. Pathetic, I know.
What sagas have you read and loved? Hated? Are there any sagas in your “to be read pile?” We’ll talk about specific sagas next time.
John Eldredge would say (and I agree) that the saga is so compelling precisely because it reflects THE saga, the story of God's pursuit of us and the battle for creation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Percy Jackson tip...
The First Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. You'd think the author was from Botwana and was a woman. He really gets into the gentle, strong, humorous psyche of his main character, and teases out the slow-moving plot line with great hilarity over many volumes. Incredible how true to life it all is--the scenery, the thoughts, the feelings. And then he writes other books about Scotland, with similar themes of justice, kindness, mercy...just in a different context. Fascinating reading.
ReplyDeleteYou got it, Fred - totally agree!
ReplyDeleteChristy, I must admit I haven't dipped into the Detective series yet. But I do have the first book on my shelf!
I'm picking up Autumn's Bridge this summer. Very Japanese, very interesting!
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