Jonathan’s Comments (group member since Mar 05, 2009)

Jonathan’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

Martyn wrote: "People who slavishly praise and more importantly 'buy' into these technological mediums and apps are clowns dancing to the drum of the technology industry. There's nothing wrong with books...they'v..."

. . .while i do think shel has some good thoughts, as far as the consumer impact of the e-reader and apps, i think martyn has said it here! . . . remember when we all when out and bought laser discs?

. . .also, if digital takes over, expect to see more talented would-be novelists jump ship to write for tv and film, because a novelist can't survive on 7% of 9.99 retail . . . it's certainly not good for anyone dedicating their lives to writing novels(at the risk of starving) . . . i dunno, if you're gonna' use a bunch of bells and whistles, why bother using novels at all? . . .why not just create some lousy hybrid medium the kids will like more . . .

. . . well, i'm glad that there's two schools of thought on this, i just hope there's enough old fogey purists like myself to keep print and brick and mortar alive . . . you kill brick and mortar, and you lose a vital part of the culture . . .

. . . if i have to hear about another fucking phone or e-reader APP that's going to revolutionize the way we read, i think i'll shoot myself . . .did it ever occur to anyone on the APP bandwagon that technology isn't always an improvement? . . . give me candlelight and a book any day over some e-reader loaded with bells and whistles . . . i really feel sorry for the generations who are going to grow up plugged into this shit . . . how long before the book reads for them , too . . .boo! . . .hiss!

. . . can't wait! . . . it's gonna' be HOT HOT HOT-- kerry, you and p ought to be prepared for the heat, but i'm not sure about the rest of us! . . . we can drive up to salmon la sac and cliff-jump into the river!

...happy birthday, jen!!!!

. . . somebody was telling me once how an interviewer recently asked lehane what his inspiration were--and he said vodka and weed! i almost peed my pants . . .

. . . good point, monk . . . lee does an amazing job of laying low . . . the fact that salinger spurned the public attention only invited more scrutiny . . . lee just demurely bowed out. . .or at least that's my perception . . .

. . .i'm with you, adrian . . . frankly, i feel sorry for his publishers--he was a pain in the ass . . .

. . .yes, towne's movie sucked hard . . .

. . . i just came here to post a link to this story, and here it was!!!

. . . let's just hope all this buzzing doesn't mean it's a piece of shit . . . those could be flies we're hearing!

. . .okay, i'm gonna' officially kick this little navel-gazer's ass! . . . i just watched a couple interviews with him-- he's insufferably smug, ungenerous, pretentious . . . also, he's quite wealthy and i just learned the state awarded him a one thousand dollar GAP grant (grants intended to subsidize financially struggling artists), for the stated purpose of hiring a research assistant . . . i really don't like this guy one bit . . .

ha!

. . . and please explain to me how the form of his book is not gimmicky?

. . . here's an interview my friend bill kennower did with dennis lehane:


http://www.authormagazine.org/intervi...

. . . okay, i've finished, and it's my favorite faulkner so far (and by far) . . . i'm still not quite a convert, though . . . but i must say hugh (and ry, and the rest of you faulkner freaks) that your beautiful enthusiasm is contagious, and that faulkner's ghost ought to feel damn fortunate to have such great minds as yours keeping his legacy alive . . . so, cheers, and thanks for your guidance, insight, and passion!

. . . okay, you know what, the more i read about this "manifesto" (and the more tequilla i drink) the more pissed off i'm getting . . . quote:

"I’m bored by out-and-out fabrication, by myself and others; bored by invented plots and invented characters. I want to explore my own damn, doomed character. I want to cut to the absolute bone. Everything else seems like so much gimmickry."

. . . sounds like someone wasn't enjoying much success writing mediocre gimmicky fiction . . .good fiction does not feel gimmicky . . .good fiction DOES cut straight to the bone-- STRAIGHTER than any non-fiction i've ever read . . . do i wanna' listen to david sheilds illuminate his "reality" any more than i want to read his gimmicky fiction? . . . i mean, honestly, if you can't distill the stuff of your life into meaningful fiction, get off the pot and stop calling yourself a writer . . . this whole thing just seems like a plea for attention to me . . . the premise, anyway . . . i hate it . . . i'd like to kick this guy's ass right now, for real . . . I LOVE THE NOVEL-- i still think it's the best form we've ever found for capturing "truth" . . .

. . . what i want to know, matt, is where is your novel? . . . i suspect you could write a damn good one . . .

. . . great thread, monk . . .it's ALL fiction as far as i concerned . . . if it's not, why bother writing it down and putting your name on it? . . . if it's "fact" it doesn't belong to anybody . . . very few facts are indisputable . . . i do think it's interesting how literature is held to a different standard than, say, "reality" television . . . about ten years ago i did some writing for a "reality" show which was based on a competition . . . strangely, why the competition provided much the content for the show, the "winner" was actually selected form a casting couch . . . all memoirs are bullshit . . . gimme' a break . . . even a documentary film is largely fabrication, wherein the temporal order of events are changed, key "facts" are omitted, etc, etc, etc, . . . when do we stop pretending that art is in any way reality? . . . i'll take truth over "reality" . . .