Reviews
Painting Dragons: What Storytellers Need to Know About Writing Eunuch Villains by Tucker Lieberman
phoebesrandoms's review
4.0
Eunuchs are more than just a trope to use when you need a villain.
Tucker Lieberman shares his thoughts of how eunuchs are viewed in Painting Dragons: What Storytellers Need to Know About Writing Eunuch Villains. Lieberman takes the experience of the transperson and relates that emotional experience to how a eunuch feels (the two are not connected in any way). He first takes us through the history of eunuchs, the ones made due to slavery and the others made due to religion or spiritual belief. The idea that we value a person based on whether they have balls or not (my words not the author’s) is predominant in society and throughout history and is showcased in casting the eunuch as a villain. Lieberman points out that this is not only done with eunuchs but with other humans with a seen deformity or deficiency, they are made to be the villain of the story and the author does the villain and the reader a disservice. Lieberman then takes us through various stories from Eutropius to Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (2009) to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (1996 and onward) examining various roles of the eunuch and villains.
I had never thought of this issue before as I have never written a villain as having a deformity or only one race. I have always written villains that have represented the villains in my own life and unfortunately they could look like the person looking back at you in the mirror. Sometimes they resemble me. I will say that I recognize the themes in Lieberman’s book and in his examples and could give quite a few myself and I think this book would make an excellent choice for a Book Club selection. I wish while I was reading it that I had someone to bounce the thoughts going through my head as I was reading it and know what books I will never read (laugh). I will say though that in my stories I always ensure that I have a LGBTQ+ character(s) in them, but it never occurred to me to have people who are considered to be “deformed” in my stories as an everyday character just as I have a queer character. This is bad on my part as I am handicapped and I am part of everyday life. Thank you Mr. Lieberman for pointing out a HUGE faux paux on my part and many other writers’ parts as well. I highly recommend this book for writers, readers, and Book Clubs.
I received this book for #free in a #Goodreads Giveaway and it did not affect my opinion at all.
#FridayReads #BookReview #TuckerLieberman #PaintingDragonsWhatStorytellersNeedtoKnowAboutWritingEunuchVillains #PaintingDragons #NonFiction #History #Writing #Villains #Eunuch #PhoebesRainbowWorld #BookReviewer #FlippingRainbows #Giveaway #Goodreads
Tucker Lieberman shares his thoughts of how eunuchs are viewed in Painting Dragons: What Storytellers Need to Know About Writing Eunuch Villains. Lieberman takes the experience of the transperson and relates that emotional experience to how a eunuch feels (the two are not connected in any way). He first takes us through the history of eunuchs, the ones made due to slavery and the others made due to religion or spiritual belief. The idea that we value a person based on whether they have balls or not (my words not the author’s) is predominant in society and throughout history and is showcased in casting the eunuch as a villain. Lieberman points out that this is not only done with eunuchs but with other humans with a seen deformity or deficiency, they are made to be the villain of the story and the author does the villain and the reader a disservice. Lieberman then takes us through various stories from Eutropius to Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (2009) to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (1996 and onward) examining various roles of the eunuch and villains.
I had never thought of this issue before as I have never written a villain as having a deformity or only one race. I have always written villains that have represented the villains in my own life and unfortunately they could look like the person looking back at you in the mirror. Sometimes they resemble me. I will say that I recognize the themes in Lieberman’s book and in his examples and could give quite a few myself and I think this book would make an excellent choice for a Book Club selection. I wish while I was reading it that I had someone to bounce the thoughts going through my head as I was reading it and know what books I will never read (laugh). I will say though that in my stories I always ensure that I have a LGBTQ+ character(s) in them, but it never occurred to me to have people who are considered to be “deformed” in my stories as an everyday character just as I have a queer character. This is bad on my part as I am handicapped and I am part of everyday life. Thank you Mr. Lieberman for pointing out a HUGE faux paux on my part and many other writers’ parts as well. I highly recommend this book for writers, readers, and Book Clubs.
I received this book for #free in a #Goodreads Giveaway and it did not affect my opinion at all.
#FridayReads #BookReview #TuckerLieberman #PaintingDragonsWhatStorytellersNeedtoKnowAboutWritingEunuchVillains #PaintingDragons #NonFiction #History #Writing #Villains #Eunuch #PhoebesRainbowWorld #BookReviewer #FlippingRainbows #Giveaway #Goodreads
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