Interview with Orson Scott Card

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What are you reading now?
A new biography of Chaucer, alternating with Endymion by Dan Simmons.

What is the first book you can remember reading?
The talking animal books by Thornton W. Burgess. The first grown-up novel I recall reading was The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, which made me a life-long anglophile and student of English history - and yes, I can usually name all the rulers of England in order (at least from Edward the Confessor on) and tell you something about each one's reign.

What book do you consider to be the most overrated?
Ulysses, obviously. It was an elaborate prank, and our supposed intellectual elite continue to fall for it. And, though you didn't ask, the most overrated movie is Citizen Kane, which is merely of historical interest as an exercise in creative vanity. It is false, mean-spirited, over-directed, badly acted by Orson Welles (he needed a better director), and makes a childishly obvious psychological point that makes me laugh when I hear people take it seriously. The list of overrated films goes on to include Philadelphia Story, Pleasantville, American Beauty, and many others.

What about the most underrated?
Most underrated book: Dave Wolverton's "Golden Queen" trilogy. I think of this as one of the great works of science fiction, and therefore of contemporary literature, and I am disappointed that it has not yet received its deserved place. The most underrated film is "Twister," which is commonly used as the obvious example of bad writing - which shows how little its disparagers know about writing. In fact, it is a superbly written film that manages to create a true ensemble of characters whose dialogue can be listened to again and again - unlike films like Independence Day and Titanic, whose writing becomes more and more grating on each reviewing. There is more good writing and good acting in any ten minutes of Twister than in, say, all of Citizen Kane.

Who is your favorite character (from a book)?
Samwise Gamgee.

Do you have a favourite film?
Such a list is never complete, because there are some that simply don't come to mind when writing it. The first thirty are roughly in order (it changes from day to day), but the others could all plausibly be in that top thirty on other days.