Short stories are good. I’m a fan. Collections of short stories are great. Natural stopping points. But apparently no one buys them, or at least no one buys them except from Established Authors. Ernest Hemingway has probably sold more short-fic since he ate his shotgun than when he was alive. Branding is everything. Probably this… Read More Ernest Hemingway Can Kiss My Ass
There is an idea running through some forms of Internet Discourse, known as Elite Overproduction. Which is to say, the high emphasis on College and University education has produced more people trained to do Academic Thinking then there are actual jobs requiring such. In the old days, of course, a college degree in English was… Read More The Joylessness of Reading
A Novel is a book in most people’s minds. Saying “I wrote a novel,” and “I wrote a book” are synonymous with most of the population. Thus, saying “I wrote a novella” indulges in jargon, and jargon always sounds mildly pretentious to those outside of the group that invented it. Also, it sounds like “lesser… Read More What Even is a Novel?
A recent viewing of the film Inherent Vice led me to try to finish The Crying of Lot 49, which I abandoned out of frustration some time ago. I’ve made a small amount of headway, but am bored again. Action is not being built. The plot is not going anywhere. The woman with the ridiculous… Read More My Pynchon Problem
At least, that’s the takeaway I have from this Sarah Hoyt Post at Mad Genius Club. Look, most twentieth century literature we were forced to read — particularly late 20th century literature — was written to be “what university professors like.” A dash of unearned superiority, a bit of social critique and always, always, every… Read More Lit Fic is a Genre
From the Telegraph. (h/t Moe Lane) Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland – Lewis Carroll – Read it as a child, I think? Parts of it, anyway. 1984 – George Orwell – Read it in high school. Reread several times. The Lord Of The Rings trilogy – JRR Tolkien – Read it in middle school. Dad made me read The… Read More How many of the Top Twenty Books People Claim to have Read, Have you actually Read?
Reading Graham Greene today. I like it. It’s serious and honest. I shall have to dig some of his stuff up for the Kindle. Perhaps The Quiet American, as I’ve seen that movie.
Content Blues 