Why do I read and write?
September 14, 2012:
I don't write literary fiction, don't read much of it either. Have I read it in the past? Of course. You can't be an English/Humanities/History triple major glutton for academic abuse without doing so. Did I enjoy some of it? Sure, but not most of it. My idea of Hell is to be stuck in a library where all the books were authored by Marcel Proust. I hate having to work too hard to read a book, essentially laboring to satisfy some real or imagined professor's ideas about symbolism or literary worth. I go to movies for the same reasons. If a film provides some nice escape from the evening news, that's good enough for me. It doesn't have to be full of Oscar-standard performances; if it does, that's a bonus, but I'd rather watch an entertaining movie with B-level acting than a plodding film with A+ acting.
Is that mentally lazy? Only if your goal in picking up the book or going to the film in the first place is to analyze it or engage in qualitative criticism. Most readers and moviegoers do not have such a goal. While Animal House may not attract the critical raves that Black Swan did, more people enjoyed it. I also do not see fostering that enjoyment as a lesser goal than climbing the literary heights.
Bottom line - if your aim in picking up one of my books is to find another Proust, please pass on by. You won't. If, on the other hand, you want a fairly realistic - and hopefully entertaining - read about our legal system and a plausible crime thriller, please come on in and have a look.
I don't write literary fiction, don't read much of it either. Have I read it in the past? Of course. You can't be an English/Humanities/History triple major glutton for academic abuse without doing so. Did I enjoy some of it? Sure, but not most of it. My idea of Hell is to be stuck in a library where all the books were authored by Marcel Proust. I hate having to work too hard to read a book, essentially laboring to satisfy some real or imagined professor's ideas about symbolism or literary worth. I go to movies for the same reasons. If a film provides some nice escape from the evening news, that's good enough for me. It doesn't have to be full of Oscar-standard performances; if it does, that's a bonus, but I'd rather watch an entertaining movie with B-level acting than a plodding film with A+ acting.
Is that mentally lazy? Only if your goal in picking up the book or going to the film in the first place is to analyze it or engage in qualitative criticism. Most readers and moviegoers do not have such a goal. While Animal House may not attract the critical raves that Black Swan did, more people enjoyed it. I also do not see fostering that enjoyment as a lesser goal than climbing the literary heights.
Bottom line - if your aim in picking up one of my books is to find another Proust, please pass on by. You won't. If, on the other hand, you want a fairly realistic - and hopefully entertaining - read about our legal system and a plausible crime thriller, please come on in and have a look.
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