Steven Felicelli
asked
Ben Marcus:
Can/will 'difficult' literature survive the waning attention spans of even the dwindling # of 'serious' readers (outside the Academe and perhaps even within)? And do you find yourself easing away from esotericism (felt like Flame Alphabet was much more 'readable' than previous work)?
Ben Marcus
I do my best not to think about the distinction between kinds of writing, because I'd like to work in many modes, and maybe fuse them all, or just forget that there are modes. I do think transparency and momentum have their thrills, but there's something immensely appealing, to me, about complex, mind warping sentences that are necessarily slower at the narrative level. After I finished writing LEAVING THE SEA, I wrote a short piece called "Notes from the Hospital" that swung back the other way, I guess. Right now I'm looking to attempt both things at once.
More Answered Questions
Steven Felicelli
asked
Ben Marcus:
there are many ways in which the thing I am trying in vain to say may be tried in vain to be said - Beckett Language acts as an acid over its message. If you no longer care about an idea or a feeling, then put it into language. - Marcus You also describe it as 'a more sophisticated way to cry'. Do you think this understanding of the self-defeating telos of language is a necessary evil?
Bbbbeannnn
asked
Ben Marcus:
I feel like I have a good grasp of prose style & what I like to do with it, but I worry about story and myth, incorporating structural resonance, to make my something more than wordwank. How do you incorporate mythologies your writing? Is it just a question of doing a lot of reading? Reading your myths, your Jungs and Campbells? Is there anything in particular that you'd recommend?
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Oct 08, 2014 07:48AM · flag