First of all, let me just say that I love the fact that you came back to continue this conversation! That's true LJ dedication right there. Now I think I'm going to break your comments down and reply point by point.
Perhaps I'm a little reluctant to stray too far from the tried and true, or maybe it's just that every time I try something new, I find it to be garbage.
It's a shame that you find a lot of new stuff to be garbage. I know that I often feel like my reading goes in streaks: I'll read three great books, then five in a row that are all disappointing, and then a few more good ones. Perhaps you've just been having bad luck lately in the new things you've been trying. And of course, there is a lot of garbage out there to be waded through, but there are some truly amazing writers working right now and finding one of them is worth wading through the garbage, at least for me. I really like knowing that there are people who are alive and writing right now who use language as sensitively and create characters as vividly as any of the acknowledged great writers of the past. It's important to me to know that that level of skill and care is not gone from the world. So, yeah, my advice is to keep trying. I'd be happy to give you some titles if you want. I love doing that stuff. "Great books published in the last 10 years" or something like that.
Also, there must be some comprehension, analysis, or some amount of thought applied to the subject area. [...] Regardless, I think reading isn't enough. you have to be able to do with it. You have to have opinions and know why. Why was this book a great book?
Couldn't agree more. This is what I was trying to get at in my initial reply when I said that in order to be well read, someone must have "thought thoroughly about what they have read, and [be] passionate about the books they love." What's the point in reading otherwise?
And then you have to speak the language. I considered you well-read without even knowing what you've read. Regardless of how much you have read, you have presented yourself here in a most articulate manner and convey that you have had some learning: good grammar, grasp of language, etc.
Well, thank you! Very kind of you to say. It's interesting how much the ability to speak the language influences my estimation of someone's intelligence. This is especially true in a situation like livejournal, where communication is exclusively written. It's very easy for me to write someone off if they can't or don't bother to express themselves clearly. This is probably not a good thing, but it's just the way it is...
when you're a famous writer, you'll allude to all the incredible things that you've read. They'll have to publish a separate annotation to catalog the evidence of the breadth of your literary knowledge. You, Yates, and Joyce.
Ah ha ha ha! Don't you think you might be, um, counting my chickens before they hatch? Nonetheless, it's nice of you to have such confidence in me. It's not everyday that I hear myself mentioned in the same sentence as Joyce... Seriously, though, the style of my novel is pretty basic, not particularly allusive, certainly nothing to require special annotation.
I don't feel that I've added much to our dialogue here. Oh well. It's late and I have a headache. Time for bed.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: All the good it does us
Date: 2004-07-14 08:51 pm (UTC)Perhaps I'm a little reluctant to stray too far from the tried and true, or maybe it's just that every time I try something new, I find it to be garbage.
It's a shame that you find a lot of new stuff to be garbage. I know that I often feel like my reading goes in streaks: I'll read three great books, then five in a row that are all disappointing, and then a few more good ones. Perhaps you've just been having bad luck lately in the new things you've been trying. And of course, there is a lot of garbage out there to be waded through, but there are some truly amazing writers working right now and finding one of them is worth wading through the garbage, at least for me. I really like knowing that there are people who are alive and writing right now who use language as sensitively and create characters as vividly as any of the acknowledged great writers of the past. It's important to me to know that that level of skill and care is not gone from the world. So, yeah, my advice is to keep trying. I'd be happy to give you some titles if you want. I love doing that stuff. "Great books published in the last 10 years" or something like that.
Also, there must be some comprehension, analysis, or some amount of thought applied to the subject area. [...] Regardless, I think reading isn't enough. you have to be able to do with it. You have to have opinions and know why. Why was this book a great book?
Couldn't agree more. This is what I was trying to get at in my initial reply when I said that in order to be well read, someone must have "thought thoroughly about what they have read, and [be] passionate about the books they love." What's the point in reading otherwise?
And then you have to speak the language. I considered you well-read without even knowing what you've read. Regardless of how much you have read, you have presented yourself here in a most articulate manner and convey that you have had some learning: good grammar, grasp of language, etc.
Well, thank you! Very kind of you to say. It's interesting how much the ability to speak the language influences my estimation of someone's intelligence. This is especially true in a situation like livejournal, where communication is exclusively written. It's very easy for me to write someone off if they can't or don't bother to express themselves clearly. This is probably not a good thing, but it's just the way it is...
when you're a famous writer, you'll allude to all the incredible things that you've read. They'll have to publish a separate annotation to catalog the evidence of the breadth of your literary knowledge. You, Yates, and Joyce.
Ah ha ha ha! Don't you think you might be, um, counting my chickens before they hatch? Nonetheless, it's nice of you to have such confidence in me. It's not everyday that I hear myself mentioned in the same sentence as Joyce... Seriously, though, the style of my novel is pretty basic, not particularly allusive, certainly nothing to require special annotation.
I don't feel that I've added much to our dialogue here. Oh well. It's late and I have a headache. Time for bed.