Comments on: Writers as Sellers: A Model of Contrasts http://www.nancyrawlinson.com/2008/08/writers-as-sellers-a-model-of-contrasts/ Thu, 27 May 2010 03:39:13 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: nancyrawlinson http://www.nancyrawlinson.com/2008/08/writers-as-sellers-a-model-of-contrasts/comment-page-1/#comment-38 nancyrawlinson Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:19:15 +0000 http://nancyrawlinson.wordpress.com/?p=109#comment-38 Yes, please, do send me the article if you can find it. I just went looking for it online to no avail, but found this quote, presumably from the article you mention, on Kundera's Wikiquotes page: "The light that radiates from the great novels time can never dim, for human existence is perpetually being forgotten by man and thus the novelists' discoveries, however old they may be, will never cease to astonish." Sounds about right. Also from the Wikiquotes page, I discover that Kundera has been quoted in The Canine Hiker's Bible: "Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring — it was peace. " As a writer and a dog-lover I can agree with both of those quotes, though I can't help thinking that Kundera never wrote his comment about dogs intending to shill for some service guide to the Adirondacks. I guess that's what happens when you put your words out there — they can be used for purpose you never intended. Yes, please, do send me the article if you can find it. I just went looking for it online to no avail, but found this quote, presumably from the article you mention, on Kundera’s Wikiquotes page:

“The light that radiates from the great novels time can never dim, for human existence is perpetually being forgotten by man and thus the novelists’ discoveries, however old they may be, will never cease to astonish.”

Sounds about right. Also from the Wikiquotes page, I discover that Kundera has been quoted in The Canine Hiker’s Bible: “Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring — it was peace. ”

As a writer and a dog-lover I can agree with both of those quotes, though I can’t help thinking that Kundera never wrote his comment about dogs intending to shill for some service guide to the Adirondacks. I guess that’s what happens when you put your words out there — they can be used for purpose you never intended.

]]> By: rhubarbum http://www.nancyrawlinson.com/2008/08/writers-as-sellers-a-model-of-contrasts/comment-page-1/#comment-39 rhubarbum Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:51:56 +0000 http://nancyrawlinson.wordpress.com/?p=109#comment-39 This post reminded me of a brilliant article by Milan Kundera which appeared in the Review section of the Guardian in March 2007 (it has since been removed as its copyright expired) - in which he muses over the death of literature due to the proliferation of mediocrity and also reflects on the relationship between author and reader, suggesting that different types of writing invite different levels of (re-)interpretation by readers. If I remember correctly, and going on my own feeling, novels allow for the widest margin of understanding - the 'lyric self' of characters such as Madame Bovary allowing for self-identification by the reader through a whole range of subjective social/political/gender filters, while short stories are more limited? RE: your comparison, it seems Jacob might be rather 2D as a character? Therefore appealing to a YA audience who prefer simple dichotomies of good vs. evil? Authors who are capable of "shutting themselves away" and writing more complex characters may therefore statistically be less likely to: a) WANT publicity b) desire to engage with the vast and myriad interpretations their readers may have, as they themselves undoubtedly have their own version - and it could often feel intrusive and unbearable to them? I'm rambling now, as my new-born son kept me awake ALL night - I'll send you the article if I can find it. This post reminded me of a brilliant article by Milan Kundera which appeared in the Review section of the Guardian in March 2007 (it has since been removed as its copyright expired) – in which he muses over the death of literature due to the proliferation of mediocrity and also reflects on the relationship between author and reader, suggesting that different types of writing invite different levels of (re-)interpretation by readers. If I remember correctly, and going on my own feeling, novels allow for the widest margin of understanding – the ‘lyric self’ of characters such as Madame Bovary allowing for self-identification by the reader through a whole range of subjective social/political/gender filters, while short stories are more limited? RE: your comparison, it seems Jacob might be rather 2D as a character? Therefore appealing to a YA audience who prefer simple dichotomies of good vs. evil? Authors who are capable of “shutting themselves away” and writing more complex characters may therefore statistically be less likely to: a) WANT publicity b) desire to engage with the vast and myriad interpretations their readers may have, as they themselves undoubtedly have their own version – and it could often feel intrusive and unbearable to them?

I’m rambling now, as my new-born son kept me awake ALL night – I’ll send you the article if I can find it.

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