At 08:18 AM 14/11/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>However, in my experience, the top
>literary books are really well-written, whereas
best-sellers tend to go
>the other
>way, because the general reading public reads for
plot and idea and doesn't
>recognize good writing from bad.
I think that's a bit of a post-modern cliché¬ and one that
conveniently lets writers off the hook. Do we forget that a
lot of the books we're now calling literary originally
appeared in the popular, pulp press? And why should people
have to recognize good from bad writing? Shouldn't good
writing just work better, be more effective in
communicating?
Anyway, things HAVE changed and in a way that suggests to me
that people do recognize effective communication. My sense is
that a broad swath of the reading (or not reading) public is
on to the techniques of persuasive (what is "truth") writing
and resist it for precisely that reason. Reading has become
highly politicized, even more than in the past. I suspect
many who don't like Huck Finn haven't read the book because
they don't want to be influenced by it, and don't want anyone
else to be influenced by it either. The charge of racism is a
cover to promote ignorance under the guise of political
correctness. Much easier to push your own point of view if
you can keep folks from reading competing points of view.
This is a generalization, of course, but then so is your
statement.
Best, Kerry
------------------------------------------------------
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The evil men do lives after them http://www.murderoutthere.com
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