I saw this link (be aware, it is a 6-year-old Atlantic article and is quite long) at the very end of a funny (as always) post by Ms. Smartypants. It's a rather acerbic look at what people consider to be "great modern literature". While it is quite damning in parts, I had to say that I, in large part, agree with the sentiment.
I have only read a few of the books cited -- the author focuses mainly on three types of modern prose and three authors in particular -- but the sentiment struck a chord. Why does "great literature" have to be so densely written and, as is often the case, logically incomprehensible? If you want to wax poetic, there is an entire ocean of writing in which to swim: poetry! Metaphors and colorful descriptions that, while singularly lovely, add nothing to the narrative but allow the author to remind the reader how gifted he or she is at crafting a sentence.
Of course, I am not a literary critic by any means. The last book I started reading was stolen (along with my car, last Friday. God damn it.) but I want to read more, and articles like this one make me feel better about reading "genre" books instead of slogging through something like All the Pretty Horses again. And, as noted above, the article is 6 years old and so may not apply as much to today's literary climate.
September 12, 2007
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4 comments:
Stolen? Didn't the same thing happen in San Diego? Maybe it will turn up again, like in San Diego.
Bummers.
Yes, goddammit. Same car, same situation (my parking spot at home) and within a month of the same time of year.
Oh well. Maybe I'll get a better one (if it never turns up).
Anybody in the Bay Area selling?
Thanks for this, I liked it a lot, and I subscribe to The Atlantic, but don't recall this article. Critics be damned, I like Annie Proulx, I liked The Shipping News, and will continue to be an admirer. I don't read every word of her prose, but I always have enjoyed the ideas that her writing evokes for me. You don't need to read and understand why she chose one verb over another to get to the feelings she is creating. I need a book club. Love, Mom
I actually enjoyed The Shipping News as well, but I came away slightly disappointed, and it was only when I read this article that I realized why.
There is something to be said for poetry-in-prose, and I think this article may go a bit far in condemning all of it. On the other hand, the article makes some really good points when it highlights the portions that are just over-the-top, as far as "colorful metaphors" go.
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