false343980FChicago, IL09/200712/2009Grapes of Wrath, To Kill A Mockingbird, Travels With Charley, Crooked Hearts, Ordinary People . . . and on and on and on]]>1620true6126295read2true719564currently-reading0true719563to-read
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/257549-best-books-of-2009
http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1190130841p2/853.jpg343980Writer & Readerhttp://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/343980-writer-reader
Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:56:48 -0800 The Great World is part of my TBR mountain. Didn't it just win some big prize? Or named number 1 on a so-called "important" list?
Let me know what you think of The Help.
Sara]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/244401-the-night-watch-by-sarah-waters
http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1190130841p2/853.jpg343980Writer & Readerhttp://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/343980-writer-reader
Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:15:42 -0800 Anyway, glad I stuck with it, just not a rave review.
Sara]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/246627-is-russo-literary
http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1190130841p2/853.jpg343980Writer & Readerhttp://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/343980-writer-reader
Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:09:53 -0800 Sara]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/250634-best-films-of-2009-nyer
http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1190130841p2/853.jpg343980Writer & Readerhttp://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/343980-writer-reader
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:26:44 -0800 Sara
]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/241572-literary-writers
http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1190130841p2/853.jpg343980Writer & Readerhttp://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/343980-writer-reader
Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:24:30 -0800
for us. I just don't think the definitions matter much. For instance, Joe, if you enjoy reading Russo over and over, why should it matter if other people consider him a literary writer or not?
I find that it is the quality of the writing that grabs me, no matter the genre (for want of a better word)--for instance, I loved Tana French's two suspense novels, and would consider her writing to be of literary quality. Recently I tried a book by a mystery writer who has received high praise for years--Val McDermid--and the writing was amazingly sloppy (the same phrase used twice two sentences apart) and pretty trite.
But there are highly praised and awarded "literary" writers that I find unbearable to read: Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates come to mind.
Ruth's example of cleaning the garage makes some sense to me, although I would probably use threads from each were I writing the scene. I took a writing workshop last spring where the guy insisted that every scene had to "risk life or death for the character" at least as they perceived it. Which is to say he believed that nothing could go unsaid, no one could seethe internally, everything had to reach a confrontation. This is ridiculous. I don't consider a bunch of "rules" or formulas to be a literary approach to writing. Of course, he's pushing a sellable, supposedly systematic, approach to producing fiction, which just rings all my negative bells. He's very proud of the books that have come out of his workshops, but I would be lying if I said I would be a proud author of most of them.
So, I'm sure this adds nothing to the discussion :)
Sara]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/193004
http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg343980Writer & Readerhttp://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/343980-writer-reader
Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:51:01 -0700Four Freedoms: A Novel (Hardcover) by John Crowley]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/70822118
http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256014120s/4972965.jpg343980Writer & Readerhttp://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/343980-writer-reader
Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:53:06 -0700Who Will Run the Frog Hospital (Paperback) by Lorrie Moore]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/70822067
http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167271896s/19634.jpg343980Writer & Readerhttp://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/343980-writer-reader
Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:52:31 -0700
http://www.goodreads.com/trivia
http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg343980Writer & Readerhttp://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/343980-writer-reader
Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:00:28 -0700