Talk:Michael Moorcock

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Contents 1 New Worlds reference 2 Collaborators 3 Elric and Túrin Turambar 4 Epic Pooh misquote 5 Bibliography 6 Shapeshifting in Moorcock's fiction? 7 Jerry Cornelius updates 8 What? 9 Musical influences 10 Glorianna

[edit] New Worlds reference

"A spoof obituary of Colvin later appeared in New Worlds." Can anyone provide a reference to the issue number and date? Anjouli 05:36, 23 Dec 2003 (UTC) Poo-poo!

The 'obituary' appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970) entitled 'The Man who Nobody Knew' and credited to 'William Barclay' (another of Moorcock's pseudonyms). Demos99 18:16, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Just to add to my previous comment, Moorcock has confirmed that the Colvin obituary was actually written by NW's art editor Charles Pratt (using the Barclay pseudonym) and that he didn't know anything about Colvin being 'killed off' until the magazine appeared. Demos99 00:48, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Collaborators

Howard Chaykin did an authorized Eternal Warrior graphic novel in the 1980s.

Walter Simonson has collaborated with Michael in the past and the pair have an Elric book due soon. - Sparky 22:11, 10 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Is that the "Making of A Sorcerer" series? As far as I can remember, the first two parts have been published, and the third (of four in total) is due out soon.D J L 16:24, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

The 3rd & 4th issues of Elric: MOAS were finally published in Summer 2006. Demos99 00:49, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Elric and Túrin Turambar

"Ironically enough one of his characters Elric of Melnibone also shares certain characteristics with Tolkien's Turin Turamabar."

I'm going to have to remove this line from the article. It's irrelevant and in no way undermines any of Moorcock's arguments against Tolkien, especially since Túrin Turambar and his cursed sword don't appear in any significant form until The Silmarillion (1977), years after Elric had been created (Stormbringer was published in 1962). I don't believe it was a rip off, however. The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson features a remarkably similar story, and predates Elric (and, naturally, The Silmarillion) by several years. MM himself admitted The Broken Sword was an inspiration for Elric, along with Monsieur Zenith and the tortured characters of gothic literature. On the other hand, Tolkien based his story on Kalevala's Kullervo, and it's possible that Poul Anderson did too, since both authors were Celtic/Norse/Finnish mythology buffs. --Goblin 07:42, Sep 12, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Epic Pooh misquote

"Epic Pooh" was specifically MM's dismissal of Richard Adams's Shardik (ursine messiah) and not Tolkien. Reread "Wizardry and Wild Romance"...

There is a link to the chapter on Epic Pooh in the article. Here is a relevant quote: "The Lord of the Rings is much more deep-rooted in its infantilism than a good many of the more obviously juvenile books it influenced. It is Winnie-the-Pooh posing as an epic." (it's pretty clear-cut) BernardL Aug 4,2005

[edit] Bibliography

It would be helpful if these were dated...' --K D F

I've added dates to the books listed and updated the Bibliography to include Moorcock's more recent EC sequences: Second Ether and Oona Von Bek. Demos99 23:02, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Shapeshifting in Moorcock's fiction?

There is a vague reference to Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius stories in List of shapeshifters. Can someone who's familiar with them make it more specific, or remove it? --Jim Henry 14:52, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

I can't claim to be that familiar with the Jerry Cornelius novels, but there's a couple of explanations why he might be on that list. In the first JC novel, The Final Programme, at the end Jerry and Miss Brunner 'merge' to form an hermaphrodite being called 'Cornelius Brunner'. In that story, Jerry is white but in the next novel, A Cure For Cancer, not only is he back to being masculine but he's also black; whereas in the short story 'The Peking Junction' he's described as being "Six foot two inches tall, rather fat, dressed in the beard and uniform of a Cuban guerrilla...". Quite how this 'shapeshifting' occurs, or even if it's shapeshifting in the commonly understood sense I couldn't say, but Moorcock has said that Cornelius is 'more of a technique than a character', so as such he perhaps doesn't conform to the normal conventions of a fictional character anyway. Demos99 22:26, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jerry Cornelius updates

I've made some changes to the paragraph dealing with Jerry Cornelius. Initially I just want to change the line "One of Moorcock's popular characters was Jerry Cornelius" to "One of Moorcock's popular characters is Jerry Cornelius", since Jerry is very much a current character for Moorcock. From that I decided to more fully detail the novellas that Moorcock has written since 1998, as well as mentioning the most recent Cornelius story, which appeared in May 2006. I also mentioned that The Condition of Muzak won the Guardian Fiction Award, but I see that that duplicates information about awards Moorcock has won further down the article. I'll rectify that - one way or another - in a short while. Demos99 15:32, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Okay, I've restructed the paragraph detailing the various awards Moorcock's won over the years, basically presenting them in list format, also adding in a couple of new ones (ie Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement). I've left the reference to Muzak winning the Guardian award in the Cornelius paragrah. Demos99 18:12, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What?

Why does it read NOTHING about him passing away, even though that date is TODAY? --nlitement ^[talk] 19:27, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

I haven't seen a reputable source for it, just an anonymous edit to Wikipedia, which may simply be vandalism.Shsilver 19:35, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Definitely untrue. Moorcock is back answering readers' questions at Moorcock's Miscellany as of 14th September 2006. Demos99 21:33, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Musical influences

 I noticed that in Music interest section the epic metal band Domine is not mentioned, their lyrical theme borrow heavily from MM's works.

I'd actually argue that the three bands mentioned - Summoning, Blind Guardian & Domine - shouldn't be in that section at all, since Moorcock has only influenced them rather than being actively involved in their music as he is/was with Hawkwind and Blue Oyster Cult. Demos99 21:23, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Glorianna

The article says that Glorianna "is not strictly a fantasy novel", even though it won the World Fantasy Award, is a very clear tribute to Gormenghast, and is set in an alternate universe which is influenced by / has contacts with ours as well. What about it is not strictly fantasy? 12:23, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

It is political commentary. Think Jubilee or Britannia Hospital Greglocock 11:28, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but you can be "strictly fantasy" and allegory, political commentary, satire, or whatever at the same time. LotR was, inadvertently or not, an exonomical and sociological commentary as well. You can hardly be good art without being a commentary on your surroundings, other people and situations, ... Fram 20:19, 12 November 2006 (UTC)