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A Strong Warning

Jul 30, 2014
by Caroline Miller
Donna Tartt, Evgenia Peretz, Henry James, It's Tartt - But Is It Art, Mark Twain, Norman Mailer, Stephen King, The Goldfinch
6 Comments

Winning the Pulitzer Prize won’t ensure a writer respect from a certain cadre of critics, those who owe their high perches to their employment rather than to any literary achievement.   For good or ill, these arbitrators of taste imagine they determine what passes for fine literature.  I admit, their opinions are a notch more erudite than the acid warbling of Stephen King, author of popular but mediocre books that give him the confidence to pass judgment on the merits of his peers.  James Patterson, who suffered one of these attacks,  offered a bemused reply.  “I’m a good dad, a nice husband.  My only crime is that I’ve sold millions of books.”  (“It’s Tartt – But Is It Art?” by Evgenia Peretz, Vanity Fair, July 2014 pg. 48.)

 If a Pulitzer were to be bestowed for literary nastiness, it might have gone to Norman Mailer who said of Thomas Wolfe, “There is something silly about a man who wears white all the time, especially in New York.”  Unrepentant, Wolfe sniffed when he heard the remark:  “The lead dog is the one they always try to bite in the ass.” (Ibid, pg. 48.)

 A current frenzy exists over Donna Tartt’s third novel, The Goldfinch.  Her first book, The Secret History, was considered a triumph, and so she is a natural target for the critics.   True, several compared her to Charles Dickens,  but that isn’t necessarily a compliment.  Henry James wrote that Dickens “added nothing to our understanding of human character.” (Ibid, pg. 46.)

 Of course,  the literary fame of Henry James is in doubt as I write.  (blog 5/6/14).  Critics may love him but they aren’t the final arbiters of what endures.  The reading public is and right now, James is as popular as spit at a dinner party.  (Blog 3/14/2014)   

 To be honest, when it comes to my regard for critics,  I stand with Mark Twain.  In his introduction to  Huckleberry Finn, he issued them a strong warning:

 Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

judging literature

Courtesy of articles.chicagotribune.com

 

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6 Comments
  1. nikki broadwell July 30, 2014 at 7:12 am Reply
    good blog post, Caroline! taste in books has certainly changed since I was young--and there's no accounting for it. My worry is that no one is reading the classics anymore--the books that we all grew up with that taught us so much about life, morality and our own place in it...do I sound old and jaded?
    • Caroline Miller July 30, 2014 at 8:39 am Reply
      No, you don't sound jaded, just wise. Your concern about the classics is legitimate. Authors like Henry James have survived because academics have incorporated their works into the curriculum of a college education. But the young turks of academia are in revolt and some of them want to chuck out the classics. Also, computer reading and tweets have changed the way the brain and eye focus on written material. Long, convoluted sentences are out, which alters the way the brain processes materials. So yes, your comment is timely. Conceivably, one day someone will ask, "Shakespeare who?"
  2. Christine Webb July 30, 2014 at 9:44 am Reply
    Caroline, even with these changes there is hope, I think. The other day upon entering Powell's, I asked my 7 year old grandson what book he would be looking for, today. He answered, "I'm looking for the classic, you know, Grandma, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Enthusiastically, we both called out at the very same moment, "A Tale of Two Cities!" Gratefully, there are young readers out there who still enjoy reading the classics, adventures, mysteries, science fiction, fiction and I daresay, even at some point, Shakespeare. Have been watching young readers grow up in our family and am delighted that once they tire of all the other electronic gadgets and gizmos, it's books they turn to for a quiet moment of entertainment.
    • Caroline Miller July 30, 2014 at 10:33 am Reply
      Well, I love stories with hope. But I confess that a 7 year-old who wants to read Charles Dickens strikes me as rare. Does he live in Lakewoebegone, by any chance, where are the children are above average?
  3. Betty Wilson July 31, 2014 at 3:09 pm Reply
    Being a best seller and having any literarry worth are not necessariily the same. I must admit I read some of the Fifty Shades because I was curious about this #1 selling book. Bad writing, limited vocabulary and boring. I have a 17 year old grand daughter who has read most of what we consider the "classics" not because it was assigned but because she simply was interested.
    • Caroline Miller July 31, 2014 at 3:32 pm Reply
      Your granddaughter gives me hope for the future. And your comments are worth remembering.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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