In the past, I've argued that paintings should not be discussed in literary terms. I've argued that music should not be discussed in literary terms. Yet a lot of people continue to talk about paintings and music as if they were literature -- mostly because those people are pretentious fops who don't know much about what painters or composers actually do.
But there is one art form that our culture refuses to treat as literature. I refer, of course, to the book. See, if we wanted to talk about the literary content of a book, we'd have to sit down and read the things. And most of us have way too much caffeine coursing through our systems to do that.
5 comments:
This is one trend that continues to stun. I noticed it a while back on those television design shows, which have all but disappeared from HGTV, sadly.
First, they arranged books by COLOR on the shelves, to make a room look good. I thought that was bad, until they decided to put them all on the shelves backwards, so you could not read the spines at all. But what a cute trendy look!
It didn't stop there. They glued books together, painted, them, drilled holes in them, etc, to turn them into shelves, tables, etc.
I, myself, have plans to glue my 1971 Encyclopedia set into a giant rolodex. That's the way it is with trends. They infect you.
Can anyone name any current novelists worth reading? It's not just my caffeination keeping me away. Too many novelists think they're paid by the word; they have no respect for my precious time. They assume I'm some rich guy in an armchair sipping brandy with all the time in the world.
Is everybody familiar with "A Reader's Manifesto" by B.R. Meyers? Its opening salvo: "Nothing gives me the feeling of having been born several decades too late quite like the modern 'literary' best seller."
Anonymous...(try the name/url button!! Actual nyms can be fun!)
My days of hammocks and novels are over, so I feel you. May I recommend poetry?
i am reading a book by jim harrison at the moment called 'returning to earth'.. it is a thoughtful book that i am enjoying reading.
thanks for the article. i find the thought process stimulating.
james
I wrote an opus. Nowhere. I wrote short books. Somewhere.
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