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This journal is mostly public because most of it contains poetry, quotations, pictures, jokes, videos, and news (medical and otherwise). If you like what you see, you are welcome to drop by, anytime. I update frequently.

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Quote of the Day

Jul. 12th, 2018 at 8:14 AM

“As readers, we remain in the nursery stage so long as we cannot distinguish between taste and judgment, so long, that is, as the only possible verdicts we can pass on a book are two: this I like; this I don't like.
For an adult reader, the possible verdicts are five: I can see this is good and I like it; I can see this is good but I don't like it; I can see this is good and, though at present I don't like it, I believe that with perseverance I shall come to like it; I can see that this is trash but I like it; I can see that this is trash and I don't like it.”

― W.H. Auden, A Certain World: A Commonplace Book

~~

Comments, opinions, anyone? :)

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Comments

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mme-n-b.livejournal.com

Jul. 12th, 2018 03:09 pm (UTC)

He forgot "I see that this is a well-crafted example of its kind and I do/do not like it"

med_cat

Jul. 12th, 2018 05:56 pm (UTC)

I suppose it would fit in the category of "I can see this is good but I don't like it"?

mme-n-b.livejournal.com

Jul. 12th, 2018 06:05 pm (UTC)

There's a difference (imo) between "a good book" and "a good example of a given genre". Consider porn - so few people have high demands towards plot, characterization, and even style in this genre. As the result, a book can be a very good pornographic book, and yet not be a good book in general.

med_cat

Jul. 13th, 2018 08:39 pm (UTC)

True, true...doesn't even have to be such an...outlying...genre, if you will. Stephen King's works are considered classics of the horror genre, yet I don't read them, as I am not fond of the genre.

mme-n-b.livejournal.com

Jul. 13th, 2018 09:19 pm (UTC)

I picked porn on purpose, because so very few people have at their finger-tips a list of porn writers who should really be considered part of the Big General Literature (Ann Rice? Can't really think of another modern porn author anybody even admits reading, can you? Isn't it funny how she writes about dead people rising (vampires), pain (porn), and Jesus (suffered pain and rose from death)? ;)

Stephen King is a case in point - had I used him as an example someone would already have posted saying "But King (or a specific book by him) is true genre-transcending literature, and good literature at that!" Ditto for Gaiman (fantasy), Asimov (sci-fi) and Bradbury (sci-fi and horror), and Pushkin (romance).

deepseasiren.livejournal.com

Jul. 12th, 2018 07:06 pm (UTC)

LOVE W.H Auden!!! And his five verdicts are definitely true.

med_cat

Jul. 13th, 2018 08:40 pm (UTC)

Pleased you found it of interest :)

oloriel.livejournal.com

Jul. 13th, 2018 10:27 am (UTC)

Wise words from a wise man. I especially appreciate the categories "I can see this is good but don't like it", and "I can see that this is trash but I like it"! XD

med_cat

Jul. 13th, 2018 08:40 pm (UTC)

Hehe yep ;) "Trash" aka "formula fiction" can be enjoyable for a bit of diversion...

oloriel.livejournal.com

Jul. 13th, 2018 09:38 pm (UTC)

No, rather in the sense of "genuinely bad storytelling" (but excellent fun)! I think there would be a lot more peace in the literary world (and especially in fandom!) if people could just admit that sometimes, the things they like are objectively bad, but they're fun so you enjoy them anyway. Or that a book or show may be objectively good, but you just can't engage with it. Instead, so many people feel that if they like something, it /has/ to be good (and others just don't see the genius or are wilfully ignorant). Or if they don't like something, it /has/ to be bad. Or if something is declared good, everybody has to like it even if it just doesn't work for them. NO - personal taste just doesn't always align with quality, and that's completely fine!
W.H.Auden's adult verdicts should be taught in every literature class.

Edited 2018-07-13 09:40 pm (UTC)

med_cat

Jul. 15th, 2018 09:55 am (UTC)

Absolutely :)

There was a similar discussion I saw about artwork, can tell you if you wish ;)

debriswoman

Jul. 14th, 2018 10:57 am (UTC)

Yep...I have books I know to be good or great literature...still waiting to be finished:-p

med_cat

Jul. 15th, 2018 09:56 am (UTC)

Indeed ;)

I recall my high school English teacher remarking, during a classroom discussion, that Dickens' "Bleak House" makes for rather bleak reading.

I'm sure there are many other such works :P

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