The Knights Templar...

[fajrdrako]

First, in the afternoon, was the Ottawa Science Fiction Society meeting. The subject was, "What makes good science fiction?" I didn't have high expectations but it turned out to be quite fascinating, as each speaker explained what they believed to be the criteria for good SF and why, and then it went into a general discussion, in which we each gave what we believed to be examples of good SF.

I'm not sure if any two of us even had the same definition for science fiction, let alone good science fiction, but that made it all the more interesting. I took notes on the books people recommended. I was happy to see Tasia mention The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, and several people mentioned The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. For my favourites, I said Ursula K. LeGuin, Brian M. Stableford, and E.C. Tubb.

Afterwards, I had dinner with Lyn and Beulah at the Pho Bo Ga, and then we came back to my place to watch a two-hour documentary on the Knights Templar. Like all broadcast history, it was superficial, but it was fun. I found it interesting that they gave a complete history of the Templars without even mentioning their relationship with the Hospitallers. Nor did they ever mention the names of the Crusader kings or lords except for Conrad of Montferrat - the only personalities they mentioned in the middle east were a few of the European kings who came on crusade, and Saladin. I was pleased to see the Israeli professor call him Salahadin, which is what my medieval sources call him.

It bothered me that as a theme they repeatedly called the Templars "a coroporation" and "the first of the great multinational corporations". I see their point, but the statement strikes me as utterly anachronistic - they didn't even have the concept of a corporation, let alone the word. They were an Order, and though I can see that their business had aspects to it that we now associate with corporations, that wasn't what they were, or how they saw themselves, or how they were seen by others.

Comments

[in-stead.livejournal.com]

I think that the subject of the next installment of Kitchen History at fajrdrako's might be on book history versus tv history. It's a topic that I find interesting, having first started thinking about it after taking a couple of public history courses last year. There's all kinds of cool things to consider, like whether tv history is due constraints of the medium or constraints of the audience.

Anyway.

Knights Templar = cool. They're fairly high on my "when the thesis is done" list of things to read about. *g*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

the next installment of Kitchen History at fajrdrako's

I like the idea of ongoing Kitchen History chez moi. Perfect!

book history versus tv history

Yes... an interesting topic. I usually find TV history frustrating in its limitations.

like whether tv history is due constraints of the medium or constraints of the audience.

And whether those constraints are real or just perceived and illusory. One of the constraints I often notice is simply economic - they can only afford so much re-enactment in terms of actors and costumes, so we saw the same shots of the same men in the same armous on the same horses over and over, sometimes from different angles. We saw a lot of maps and landscape views of the Holy Land as it is now, and pictures of old ruined castles, but we never saw anyone who wasn't a Templar or a lecturing Professor on the subject - I would have like to have seen one or two re-enacted Turks, or a Frankish lord, or maybe an Assassin!

Yes, Templars are cool. I sort of wish there weren't so many modern legends and myths wrapped around them - they are so interesting in their own right that I like to see more focus on the reality, not the Masonic stuff.

I also like to think that at least some of the accusations of homosexual practices were true!

[medelle.livejournal.com]

I absolutely LOVED The Sparrow and in fact am now thick in the middle of The Children of God.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Yes, isn't The Sparrow wonderful? Just talking about it makes me want to reread it. What a writer she is. Have you read A Thread of Grace yet?