Left Behind Computer Game

i've heard of it.

its quite funny actually - won't be getting it - i'm more into mmorpg's

 

can we say...over-realized eschatology together one more time

<-------- not buying anything like this

 

We can also say "milking a cash cow."

 

Of course it is milking the cash cow. The entire Left Behind series of books could have been written in 6 books instead of 12. After the first two they all seemed to be half (or less) of an entire book. Then of course their is the prequels that are being written now, and the kids series of books, then I can see Jenkins/ LeHaye coming out with a series of books on the millenium.

How else can Left Behind generate cash, well that is only limited to your imagination.

Bill

 

It's sad that the people buying these books don't know the difference between good and bad writing. It's not a stretch to call these books the "Worst Books Ever Written".

 

Amen, people need to get a life.

 

I'm looking forward to the sequel...

"Right behind, the game: Turning the other cheek"

 

What fun would playing a game be when you already know the outcome?

 

(With apologies to Mel Brooks.)

Merchandising, where the real money from the books are made. Left Behind the T-shirt, Left Behind-the Coloring Book, Left Behind-the Lunch box, Left Behind-the Breakfast Cereal, Left Behind-the Flame Thrower.

 

I would have to disagree with you on the 'Left Behind' Series being the "Worst Books Ever Written".

I have seen far worse.

While the books were pure fiction, not lining up with the Word, they were on best-selling lists. And people bought them. If they were worst written, then I daresay the sales would have dwindled to nearly nothing by the 3rd or 4th book of the series and the cash to make subsequent books in the series would have eventually dwindled.

I equate the 'Left Behind' series with a soap opera manuscript.

I read all books and could not wait for the next installment after reading the newest release.

I was, however, disappointed with the ending of the last book, 'The Glorious Appearing.' It was terribly lacking at the end.

 

It is totally meaningless that people bought the books. Millions of people made Jackass 2 the #1 movie in America a few weeks ago. The fact that the Left Behind series was on a best-selling list is just sad. If you wish for specifics about why they're so bad, please visit this site and check out what Fred Clark has written about it. He's been ripping Left Behind apart for over a year and hasn't made it even halfway through the first book yet.

 

cc,
You and I have been over this ground before. I still wish that you could criticize specific things about the books vs. broad generalizations about the readers.

I bought and read all twelve, and I enjoyed them. (Sure, there were various aspects that could have been improved.) So I guess I classify as not knowing the difference between good and bad writing, in your view.
Come visit my very large personal library, and I think you would see otherwise. I will also match my educational credentials against yours.

I just know too many people, including my Sunday School teacher who teaches English, who have enjoyed these books.

In my opinion, what irks a lot of people about these books is quite simply that they presented a particular eschatological view in an approving manner. And that they did it in a popular soap opera style that garnered a lot of readers.

As far as authors in a popular style, Louis L'Amour wrote over a hundred books. Believe me, there is a certain repetition in his style. P.G. Wodehouse wrote over a hundred books. He was a master of the English language. Yet whole themes are repeated in his books. Sometimes lengthy quotes. Charles Dickens is read in every American high school. There is a "little" padding in his writing style. :smilewinkgrin:

Many people read a variety of styles and genres for different purposes.
It does not mean they read uncritically or that they are dumb.

 

I have done exactly that. Please go re-read the thread about LB in the Books forum. Here's one of my first posts in the thread you're referring to.

Here's more. In the Left Behind world, Israel becomes prosperous due to farming. Fred Clark did the heavy lifting on the numbers, so these are his words about the subject.

Farming explains Israel's rise to power? Ridiculous.

Here's more from Fred about Israel in the LB world.

Here are more of my words.

When the Rapture happens, every single child in the world has disappeared and do you know how much time L&J spend on this fact? Other than to say that children disappeared and to provide examples, like a soccer team disappearing, none. Within a day or 2 of the Rapture, when billions of people disappear, including every single child on the planet, people are going on as if nothing happened. I think that L&J are using the verse that says, "God will send a strong delusion that they will believe the lie" to explain it all away and it's just not believeable.

Remember what it was like on September 11th when people were desperate to find their loved ones that were missing? Multiply that by a billion when the Rapture happens and double it because we're talking about children. L&J never, for one minute, seem to consider that the unsaved love their children too.

Selling millions of books is no more an indicator of great writing than selling tickets is an indicator of a great movie. If you have more than a Bachelor's degree, then you've been to school longer than I have. I'm not sure what this means if you're trying to say that the Left Behind series is great writing.

Soap operas aren't considered to be great TV, so if we relegate Left Behind to a soap opera, I suppose that works. I got tired of having to supply the imagination required to make the books work, because L&J didn't supply any.

I simply don't understand why these books are considered to be examples of anything other than bad writing. Are we just that starved for something, anything, that we'll accept and promote anything, even if it's as bad as LB?

Our standards should be higher than this.

 

Thanks for responding. You do make and have in the past made some valid stylistic points. Many points in the books could have been drawn out better. Although many readers such as I am, skim over that stuff anyway.

I have never suggested that being a best-seller implies greatness. I have simply objected to your repeated characterizations of readers of LB as being in a generic category of being unable to distinguish good and bad writing.

Many people read all types of writing for many different purposes.
I know people highly educated in English who have enjoyed LB for what it is. And it's not a theology text or a technical manual. It is a "thriller" about people in beyond-fantastic events having to rely on God. Re: some of your points about people looking for missing loved ones. The viewpoint of these books was not meant generally to be a panorama of everything happening in the world. It was to portray some individuals and their experiences.

 

Point taken, Karen. I didn't realize I was coming across that harshly. My apologies.

 

Thank you.