To encounter 'Beowulf' is like taking a sledgehammer to a quarry face. You must bang in there.
Seamus HeaneyRead
The cry that 'fantasy is escapist' compared to the novel is only an echo of the older cry that novels are 'escapist' compared with biography, and to both cries one should make the same answer: that freedom to invent outweighs loyalty to mere happenstance, the accidents of history; and good readers should know how to filter a general applicability from a particular story.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Fantasy offers a freedom of creativity that is often undervalued compared to more grounded forms of storytelling.
In this quote, Tom Shippey argues that labeling fantasy as merely escapist, much like the past criticism of novels compared to biographies, overlooks the intrinsic value of imaginative storytelling. He emphasizes that the ability to invent and create new worlds and narratives holds more significance than merely adhering to factual historical events; good readers are encouraged to recognize and extract general truths from specific fictional stories.
Themes
FantasyEscapismCreativityStorytellingImagination
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion on the value of genre fiction at a literary festival.
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