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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 4818 Views
Was Sanderson created by the Writng Gods to counter balance GRRM? - 19/02/2012 05:13:07 PM 1600 Views
A modern Moorcock, eh ? *NM* - 19/02/2012 05:39:00 PM 703 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 1529 Views
Agreed on both points..... - 19/02/2012 08:00:41 PM 1491 Views
Well, but he is a "fluff" writer from a literary standpoint - 20/02/2012 02:16:11 AM 1527 Views
Not a fluff writer in my mind..... - 20/02/2012 03:12:46 AM 1505 Views
You don't seem to want to hear what I'm saying - 20/02/2012 03:51:13 AM 1460 Views
And I am saying that storytelling is more important..... - 20/02/2012 04:52:39 AM 1585 Views
Storytelling is crucial... - 20/02/2012 05:59:57 AM 1587 Views
A few comments/replies about your post..... - 20/02/2012 02:57:16 PM 1515 Views
You are correct in one respect: all of this is opinion. - 20/02/2012 07:01:11 PM 1506 Views
You sound like one of those nasty "literary elites"! - 20/02/2012 08:07:13 PM 1456 Views
Literature is subjective - 21/02/2012 12:26:35 AM 1531 Views
Very well said..... *NM* - 21/02/2012 01:12:40 AM 669 Views
I agree with your point about reading Shakespeare from textbooks. - 21/02/2012 03:18:37 AM 1581 Views
Never heard of Thomas Mann and the real Mona Lisa..... - 21/02/2012 03:34:12 AM 1397 Views
Conversely, why should I trust the likes of you? - 21/02/2012 06:19:18 AM 1693 Views
Oh, come now... - 21/02/2012 10:35:18 AM 1647 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 1404 Views
Mostly agreed - 21/02/2012 09:00:51 PM 1467 Views
Mostly true - 21/02/2012 09:27:09 PM 1491 Views
Re: Mostly true - 22/02/2012 12:58:55 AM 1316 Views
Larry = snob - 21/02/2012 05:34:22 PM 1450 Views
Amusing - 21/02/2012 07:49:20 PM 1455 Views
Wow, you lack basic reading comprehension skills..... - 21/02/2012 08:29:24 PM 1448 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 688 Views
D'uh.....notice the smiley face. Good grief! *NM* - 22/02/2012 12:50:23 AM 704 Views
Just checking... *NM* - 22/02/2012 01:07:40 AM 652 Views
Wait, let's look at the gross disconnect between two statements. - 21/02/2012 01:59:34 PM 1513 Views
I have not blindly rejected the literary elites..... - 21/02/2012 05:27:35 PM 1506 Views
So true about the Mona Lisa. - 21/02/2012 07:57:41 PM 1560 Views
Yes, I was at the Louvre and you are right..... - 21/02/2012 08:32:40 PM 1457 Views
This is where your own rethoric defeats you... - 23/02/2012 06:38:54 AM 1485 Views
Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... - 23/02/2012 05:12:47 PM 1266 Views
There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" - 21/02/2012 08:58:11 PM 1459 Views
Re: There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" - 21/02/2012 09:23:38 PM 1593 Views
Thank you. That was excellent. *NM* - 20/02/2012 07:01:31 PM 743 Views
Seems like an awful lot. - 19/02/2012 08:11:22 PM 1683 Views
Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different - 20/02/2012 12:50:41 AM 1567 Views
I thought he was just recycling the name at first. *NM* - 20/02/2012 02:09:57 AM 753 Views
It's likely to stay that way... - 20/02/2012 06:22:50 AM 1554 Views
I think he can actually do both - 20/02/2012 03:31:00 PM 1612 Views
Re: I think he can actually do both - 20/02/2012 06:34:30 PM 1676 Views
I love it. - 19/02/2012 10:00:28 PM 1411 Views
Confirmation on the Mistborn trilogies. I am so happy. *NM* - 20/02/2012 05:38:23 AM 654 Views
I am thrilled to see that there will be more stories about Wax and Wayne..... - 20/02/2012 03:46:37 PM 1312 Views
The one issue I had with that book... - 21/02/2012 06:21:29 PM 1430 Views
Waxillium! *NM* - 21/02/2012 10:47:03 PM 658 Views
WAXILLIUM! *NM* - 04/03/2012 07:39:37 AM 889 Views
Why is that an issue? I think those names are great. - 23/02/2012 05:31:51 AM 1392 Views
Do you not like puns? *NM* - 06/03/2012 01:38:31 PM 755 Views
BS- The Fantasy Stephen King? - 21/12/2012 08:12:21 PM 1202 Views

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