Thursday, May 1, 2014

I still like Ike

    I really enjoyed the twist of Arthur in modern day New York City running for Mayor. There were a few odd twists, such as the time traveling and demons, but those were pretty funny to read about. Having a small demon pop out and throw a building up in flames was hilarious. The sassy young Merlin was also a fun change, especially since he was essentially running the campaign as a child while no one knew why he was there who wasn’t in the time traveling loop.
    My biggest issue with this passage was actually that Gwen betrayed Arthur to Morgan. That’s just cold! In all of the other stories of Arthur that we read, Gwen and Morgan never conspired together. It was always just Gwen and Lancelot with Morgan off grooming Mordred to overthrow Arthur. This was definitely a twist to me, and one that I thought was a little uncalled for. I would storm off too if I was Arthur when he figured out what had happened.
    As for Arthur’s views, I saw a lot of 500 A.D. Arthur in his answers. The most notable example was his response to gun control, of using broad swords instead because they’re too heavy for kids but a great workout. A lovely thought, but I have yet to meet the gun that loses in a sword fight (except for Avalon High… I’m not getting into that in here). Abortion was a really interesting concept actually. Women suffer through the pregnancy and procedure, so in turn the man pays the cost so as to share in the suffering. I feel like all of his views show his chivalry coming out, but it just isn’t modern enough to be effective anymore. Granted, Arthur has barely had any time in the present. He learned a tremendous amount in such a short time that I feel given longer to prepare and adapt, he could truly be a great leader to New York or even the United States. But unfortunately for this story he is just not ready yet.
    Like I said in the title - If I had to vote for Mayor of New York City today, I would not vote for Arthur. I still like Ike.

4 comments:

  1. I would prefer Arthur to Michael Bloomberg. But anyways, I agree with your point that Arthur would not be able to rule in this time period. He's just too idealistic to navigate through the sleazy world of politics. I could see Arthur being the mayor of a small Midwestern town or city, or mayb a sheriff in a police department, but I feel like the world is just too scummy for a guy like Arthur to thrive.

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  2. There were numerous twists to this but I enjoyed it, especially the Merlin part because no one understood why he was there and that he had transformed into a kid but still has his knowledge. Even with King Arthur's lack of knowledge I liked his gut instinct part of him but that also isn't the only important trait to have when being mayor. Not wanting to know facts has its pros and cons but I don't know if being mayor is his fit if he is against a few of the expectations.

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  3. I still don't understand how someone can walk around with a physical, invisible, giant pointy thing. It's New York, there is got to be one time he runs into someone. I question Arthur's capability to lead if he is being spoon fed everything from a small child. Regardless of how old he is inside, he looks like a small child and that has got to look weird to someone.

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  4. Tom, it's in a scabbard remember! Nonetheless, I enjoyed Knight Life, especially the whole demon waiter scene. It has me curious about the sequel "One Knight Only" even though I most likely won't end up reading it. Could it be a possible read for the next semester class?

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