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Literature is subjective cortez1 Send a noteboard - 21/02/2012 12:26:35 AM
I feel like we as a society are too quick to call something literature because everybody else calls it literature and too quick to tear something else down because no one else calls it literature.
No one can argue that Shakespeare has not written some of the greatest plays ever written in the English language. They are rightly read in high school English classrooms and have graduate courses in college designed around them. However, I feel like Shakespeare himself would be appalled at students reading his works out of a textbook, struggling with the archaic wording in an attempt to discern the 'deep' meaning. They are plays, meant to be seen, and written to be enjoyed and make the theater money. Dickens was writing for pay. Is he a great writer? Assuredly, but his lasting legacy is grounded in the fact that he was in fact a very good storyteller who wrote engaging, complex dramas set primarily in Victorian London. Literature with a capital L, the kind that gets assigned in college classes, were once very well written stories that people wrote hoping others would like and maybe get something out of, reminiscent of the Emerson quote about great philosophers having once been boys in libraries studying philosophy.

Is Sanderson on that level? is he a great writer? No, but he is a good writer with some powerful themes underlying his plots and characters. I don't understand why there are "novels", at which people tend to turn up their nose, and "Literature", over which people tend to fawn regardless of content. Why are there not simply stories, some better than others, the best of them powerful , engaging works?

Anyway that's my two cents. Sorry for the rant.
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Brandon Sanderson plans 36 books in his 'Cosmere' setting - 19/02/2012 11:45:24 AM 4568 Views
Was Sanderson created by the Writng Gods to counter balance GRRM? - 19/02/2012 05:13:07 PM 1365 Views
A modern Moorcock, eh ? *NM* - 19/02/2012 05:39:00 PM 595 Views
I just wish he'd be done with the RJ shit and go back to writing his own books. - 19/02/2012 05:40:59 PM 1299 Views
Agreed on both points..... - 19/02/2012 08:00:41 PM 1262 Views
Well, but he is a "fluff" writer from a literary standpoint - 20/02/2012 02:16:11 AM 1321 Views
Not a fluff writer in my mind..... - 20/02/2012 03:12:46 AM 1260 Views
You don't seem to want to hear what I'm saying - 20/02/2012 03:51:13 AM 1225 Views
And I am saying that storytelling is more important..... - 20/02/2012 04:52:39 AM 1358 Views
Storytelling is crucial... - 20/02/2012 05:59:57 AM 1339 Views
A few comments/replies about your post..... - 20/02/2012 02:57:16 PM 1281 Views
You are correct in one respect: all of this is opinion. - 20/02/2012 07:01:11 PM 1270 Views
You sound like one of those nasty "literary elites"! - 20/02/2012 08:07:13 PM 1214 Views
Literature is subjective - 21/02/2012 12:26:35 AM 1301 Views
Very well said..... *NM* - 21/02/2012 01:12:40 AM 561 Views
I agree with your point about reading Shakespeare from textbooks. - 21/02/2012 03:18:37 AM 1335 Views
Never heard of Thomas Mann and the real Mona Lisa..... - 21/02/2012 03:34:12 AM 1181 Views
Conversely, why should I trust the likes of you? - 21/02/2012 06:19:18 AM 1421 Views
Oh, come now... - 21/02/2012 10:35:18 AM 1346 Views
When it comes to evaluating schema, I'm not going to trust someone who only had English 101 - 21/02/2012 11:26:03 AM 1146 Views
Mostly agreed - 21/02/2012 09:00:51 PM 1226 Views
Mostly true - 21/02/2012 09:27:09 PM 1264 Views
Re: Mostly true - 22/02/2012 12:58:55 AM 1100 Views
Larry = snob - 21/02/2012 05:34:22 PM 1209 Views
Amusing - 21/02/2012 07:49:20 PM 1201 Views
Wow, you lack basic reading comprehension skills..... - 21/02/2012 08:29:24 PM 1181 Views
Uh...Faust is a play. Doctor Faustus is a novel. The former is Goethe, the latter is Mann. *NM* - 22/02/2012 12:00:22 AM 599 Views
D'uh.....notice the smiley face. Good grief! *NM* - 22/02/2012 12:50:23 AM 598 Views
Just checking... *NM* - 22/02/2012 01:07:40 AM 544 Views
Wait, let's look at the gross disconnect between two statements. - 21/02/2012 01:59:34 PM 1313 Views
I have not blindly rejected the literary elites..... - 21/02/2012 05:27:35 PM 1280 Views
So true about the Mona Lisa. - 21/02/2012 07:57:41 PM 1333 Views
Yes, I was at the Louvre and you are right..... - 21/02/2012 08:32:40 PM 1213 Views
This is where your own rethoric defeats you... - 23/02/2012 06:38:54 AM 1193 Views
Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... - 23/02/2012 05:12:47 PM 1045 Views
There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" - 21/02/2012 08:58:11 PM 1224 Views
Re: There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" - 21/02/2012 09:23:38 PM 1373 Views
Thank you. That was excellent. *NM* - 20/02/2012 07:01:31 PM 633 Views
Seems like an awful lot. - 19/02/2012 08:11:22 PM 1412 Views
Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different - 20/02/2012 12:50:41 AM 1335 Views
I thought he was just recycling the name at first. *NM* - 20/02/2012 02:09:57 AM 606 Views
It's likely to stay that way... - 20/02/2012 06:22:50 AM 1339 Views
I think he can actually do both - 20/02/2012 03:31:00 PM 1370 Views
Re: I think he can actually do both - 20/02/2012 06:34:30 PM 1412 Views
I love it. - 19/02/2012 10:00:28 PM 1165 Views
Confirmation on the Mistborn trilogies. I am so happy. *NM* - 20/02/2012 05:38:23 AM 543 Views
I am thrilled to see that there will be more stories about Wax and Wayne..... - 20/02/2012 03:46:37 PM 1095 Views
The one issue I had with that book... - 21/02/2012 06:21:29 PM 1207 Views
Waxillium! *NM* - 21/02/2012 10:47:03 PM 522 Views
WAXILLIUM! *NM* - 04/03/2012 07:39:37 AM 736 Views
Why is that an issue? I think those names are great. - 23/02/2012 05:31:51 AM 1116 Views
Do you not like puns? *NM* - 06/03/2012 01:38:31 PM 614 Views
BS- The Fantasy Stephen King? - 21/12/2012 08:12:21 PM 977 Views

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