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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
ah yes. books. i'm sniffing around a volume of chekhov's stories.
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Ha! After all this talk of style, you end up with an author who is known to not have any sort of particular style. Flourishes of syntax and diction were among the last things of Anton's mind.
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Originally Posted by demonrail666
I defend it against those countless 'people's choice' lists done by the likes of GoodReads or Amazon,
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Well, move the goalposts in that direction and I'm loyal to your side. Graham Greene's most sensational entertainment still holds more literary weight than the truly awful Ayn Rand, etc.
But I suppose I get the BBC's dilemma: how much time is appropriate to spend on the Harry Potter books?
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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
writing is no longer the dominant means of cultural transmission, which funnels talent away from words alone to media such as tv/movies/games
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I guess. Maybe. But, you know, it's not like 100 years ago Henry James novels were flying off the shelves.
Indeed, I was shocked to look at the bestseller list of the 20th century. It was page after page of "Who the hell are these people?" Turns out they were massively famous people for a few years, then resigned to the oblivion of history because the books weren't very good. Meanwhile, names we take for granted as "great" were usually nowhere to be found. A few exceptions.
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Originally Posted by demonrail666
I disagree but only because I personally find Martin Amis's style almost unreadable. It's not saying he writes badly, just that I can't stand it.
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I was thinking last night how I've never finished a Rushdie novel. I've tried 3 or four, just can't get past page 50.
I wouldn't say he writes badly, just that I can't stand it.
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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
ps
JEAN RHYS
YOURCENAR
CLARICE LISPECTOR
MACHADO DE ASSIS
JOSÉ MARÍA ARGUEDAS
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I've been meaning to read WIDE SARGASSO SEA for awhile now, unless someone can recommend a superior Rhys.
Otherwise, sorry, I erected a border that prevents Mexican books from crossing into my bookshelf because they take away jobs from American books.