Kitty Hawk

Did Ayn Rand ever discuss POV in fiction writing? Most older literature used Third Person Omniscient, whereas most modern literature uses either Third Person Single POV or Third Person Multiple POV, meaning you only get one character's POV per scene. No "head hopping" in a single scene. I read a brief analysis of Atlas Shrugged's POV, (unfortunately, I can't figure out how to post a link here, I can't even copy and paste here) which says it was written in Third Person Omniscient, although most scenes are still written from a single character's POV. I'd still like to know what, if anything, Ayn Rand had to say about POV. Or perhaps Shoshana Milgram covered this in one of her lectures?

I have not seen the movie, but I just recently watched the 25th anniversary concert of the musical version, after hearing people praise it for many years. I did not like it. I think it emphasized the worst aspects of Hugo's novel, the altruism and collectivism,and the conventional love story, and did so at the expense of the best parts of Hugo's novel, the heroism of Valjean, and the value conflict between him and Javert. It was there, yes, but it was drowned in a sea of altruism. Valjean's only purpose in the musical seemed to be to sacrifice himself to whoever needed a sacrifice. One of the signature songs of the show is "Look Down" - which has no other meaning than "You are your brother's keeper." Enjolras and his men sounded more like the Occupy Wall Street crowd than men fighting for positive values. Our little lives mean nothing, we'll take those rich men down! Most offensive of all was the bouncy, Gilbert and Sullivanesque songs and music given to the Thenardiers, every time they appeared on the stage. The audience gleefully joined in with their debauchery each time, as they are evidently expected to do. The Thenardiers are made into comic relief. In Hugo's novel, they were not comic relief: they were evil. I also did not hear any really great music. Nothing, in the way of love songs, as beautiful as They Were You from the Fantastiks, or Till There Was You, from The Music Man. Nothing even close to that. To me, it barely rose above recitative anywhere. Nor was there anything as powerfully moving as The Impossible Dream, or as benevolently happy as Oklahoma! And I haven't even mentioned all the vulgarity they added, that was not in Hugo. It was deliberately adding feet of clay to giants, lest we could not relate to such "unrealistic" characters. To sum up, I think there was far to much of Marius and Cosette, and the Thenardiers, and far to little of Valjean and Javert.

Kamsahamnida!

Thanks, guys. Facebook seems to have kept me away from here a lot, but I still come back on occasion. A great place to visit, full of rational friends.

I'm certainly familiar with them. Your post brings to mind their song ."Sir Rastus Bear who'd ever believe You'd be by a song redeemed."

Hmm, well, there were the occasional funny moments, but it certainly isn't a Romantic Comedy. DramaFever has it listed under "Melodrama," which is their catch-all for whatever isn't a sageuk (historical) or a romantic comedy. Really, I don't remember much humor in it at all, although it has been a while since I watched it. And that's not a complaint - one thing I've never liked, and that is comic relief in a drama that is supposed to be serious.

The other drama by the writer of Dae Jang Geum available at DramaFever is Queen Seon Duk. I didn't like it nearly as much as DJG, though. It was more about politics, but it still has lots of good value conflicts and a good plot. Another drama by the same wrtier and producer is Sodongyo, which is quite good. It's about a scientist/inventor and his struggles. Another great plot with strong value conflicts. Two that I want to see, but which aren't available on Region 1 dvd's, or on DramaFever, are Hur Jun (also spelled Heo Joon), and Sangdo. Hur Jun is about a male version of Jang Geum, evidently, and is by the same producer, but a different writer. It was from 1999, and was said to have revitalized the historical drama in Korea. The other, Sangdo, is about a merchant, and is also by the same producer. I recently read that Google is having some kind of video on demand service, and it is hosting two Korean dramas: Dae Jang Geum, and Hotelier.

Sorry I haven't answered, it's been a while since I've been here. DramaFever is definitely legal. They have permission to distribute all three main Korean networks. There's another site, called Viikii, that might be legal, since they show commercials with the dramas they have. But I'm not sure about that one. 'people typically say "anjusayo" for "have a seat" today.' Yes, I've heard that also. But they also use something that sounds to me like "ankora." But sometimes k's sound like g's, and r's sound like l's, so I'm not really sure.

Belated birthday greetings, Vespasiano.

Thank you Vespasiano, Alann, and Ed from OC. Another year over, a new one just begun, as someone once said.

Thanks, Mercury!

Thanks to everyone-Betsy, Rose, John, and B. Royce-for the birthday greetings. Much appreciated!

I've despised him ever since I saw him advocating the Estate Tax, and then he turned around and made sure the government wouldn't decide where his money would go after he dies, by designating it for the Bill Gates altruism fund, or whatever it is called. The Estate Tax is not for the likes of him, but he wants to force it on the rest of us. Can't stand the man.

축 생일! According to an online translator, that is Korean for Happy Birthday. From my weak understanding of Hangul, it seems to transliterate as: Chuk sengil!

The wedding was in Hawaii, and the article I read said her husband brought his pastor from Chicago. So, I'm guessinng Chicago is the lucky town. They seem to have a sizable Korean population there.